


A Different Path to Happiness

by Wolfrider14



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: F/M, Saiyans, Super Saiyan, buu saga
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-08-29 08:44:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8482918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfrider14/pseuds/Wolfrider14
Summary: My name is Calla, and I'm the last known female saiyan. It had been seven years since I found my adopted son abandoned in the woods, now things are spiraling out of control. First I see friends I hadn't seen in years, second I'm reunited with the man that doesn't know I love him, and finally the world I'd under the threat of a wizard and his creation. This is my story of how I found my place in the world and true happiness.





	1. Tournament Time

“So, mom?” My son asked me from his spot on my shoulders. I felt his weight shift as he moved to get closer to the right side of my face. “What are we going to do with the prize money?”

We were walking towards the stadium where the World Martial Arts Tournament would be taking place in a couple of hours. I had been looking forward to this for a few years now, and now I could feel the excitement bubble within me.

“We’re going to asked the Brief’s family to build us a spaceship so we can find Prince Tarble and any other saiyans that might have escaped Frieza's grasp. Bulma owes me a favor, so we should have no problem with getting one.” I got a hum as a response, and I moved to get a look on my son’s face.

His black hair stuck up all over his head in crazy spikes with several of them falling over his forehead. He had very expressive black eyes that were now narrowed in thought, and he had one of his hands fisted in his dark red gi shirt.

“Will…will they like me since I'm…not fully saiyan?” His voice was small as he looked at me with his lower lip between his teeth. He had been leery about meeting others of our kind ever since I brought this idea up.

“Oh, Goten. I'm sure they will. Besides, you barely have any human blood left in you after I adopted you, and as far as most saiyans were concerned, you would be considered a full blooded one.” I lifted my hand to ruffle his hair, and my tail snaked out from under my teal gi top to lightly pull on his hidden one.

My lips curled in a little smile as I looked over him. Every time I see his face, I couldn't help but remember when I found Goten for the first time.

Flashback 

I had just finished a very intense training regiment, and I was walking through the woods to a lake I knew was nearby to bathe and find some fish for dinner. The teal gi I had on was ripped and burnt in several places.

I was looking forward to just sinking in the water when I caught the sound of something crying. I stopped and looked around in confusion as soon as I realized that it was a baby crying. I remained still as I wondered just what a baby was doing in the woods so far from any town or village when I heard an animalistic snarl.

I launched myself in the direction of the sound until I came to a clearing, and I felt my lips pull back into a snarl of my own. There against a stump in the center of the clearing was a baby that couldn't have been more than two months old wrapped in a blue blanket with a saber tooth tiger about to pounce on him.

I fired a ki blast at the feline as I kicked off the ground to protect the child. The blast knocked the tiger away, and it turned towards me with a snarl on its face. I landed in a crouch in front of the still crying babe with a glare.

However, as soon as it saw me, it seized up in fear. All I did was take a step in its direction before it turned tail to flee into the woods. 

I rolled my eyes at the feline’s actions wondering if I should chase it down to make it my dinner when another cry grabbed my attention. I rose up as I turned to look at the squirming bundle on the stump. The blanket was completely covering the baby from view, and my heart wrenched at the sight.

“Shh…there, there.” I whispered in a soothing voice as I lifted the child. My words seemed to have an effect as the crying slowed a bit. “It's alright now. That pussy cat can't get to you anymore.” 

It took a moment of shifting to get the baby in the crook of my left arm so I could look over it to see if it needed any treatment. I pulled the blanket down only to have the sight of the baby knock my breath away like a punch to the gut. 

Black, spiky hair popped up as soon as the fabric was gone, and a tiny black tail wriggled out from under one of the what could only be a boy's leg. Small fists waved in the air for a couple of seconds, then wide, onyx eyes blinked up at me with tears still swimming within them. 

The baby was naked, and he looked half starved. His hair and fur on his tail looked dull and slightly matted. I was so horrified at the state he was in that I blanked out for a few seconds to get myself back under control.

I stared down at what could only be the son of Son Goku, and I felt my heart ache at the sight of the child. Tears stung my eyes as my free hand came up to grasp the amber colored, teardrop shaped pendant around my neck, and memories that I had put behind me rushed to the forefront of my mind.

A whimpering managed to stop me from sinking too deep in the past, and I gave the boy a small smile as I pulled him closer to me. I placed my free index finger in my mouth to nick it on one of my sharper teeth. As soon as I tasted blood, I offered my finger to the baby.

I wasn't the least bit surprised when he latched on, and began to greedily suckle at the crimson fluid. His small fingers wrapped around whatever part of my hand he could hold onto as his eyes slowly closed. I cuddled him closer to my chest so he could hear my heartbeat as he fed.

“Sorry it's not milk, little one, but it'll do for now.” I nuzzled his spiked hair with my nose. “Thankfully, we saiyans can use blood for nutrients.” 

The baby sighed as he nursed, and I moved so I could sit down on the stump. I flash of blue drew my attention from the infant to the blanket that had fallen to the ground without my knowledge. I used my tail to pick it up when I saw a glimpse of orange thread. I straightened the fabric out to see a name embroidered.

“Goten?” I received a coo from the baby. His eyes had opened, and I felt his tail wrap around my left wrist. I smiled as I watched the baby slow down in his feeding, and I could see a small improvement in him already.

“Well, Goten, I'm Calla.” Here I paused as I looked around the clearing once again. I frowned at the lack of energy traces and sign that any human had been here recently. “And it looks like I'm going to take care of you for awhile.”

Timeskip

It took me a month to get Goten to where he should be health wise before I went looking for his family. It had been years since I had seen Goku or any of the others from when we were younger. I had left the group after the tournament where he fought with Piccolo.

I had fallen in love with Goku, and I was planning on telling him once the competition was over. Just before he left to go train with Kami, he had given me a necklace and a promise to come back to me, and I had yet to take it off.

Unfortunately, Chi-Chi got to him first. All I heard was Goku agreeing to the promise he made years ago to marry her, and I left with a broken heart. Ever since then, I barely kept in touch with my friends. Eventually, I ended up at Kami’s Lookout where I almost barricaded myself in one of the rooms where I trained for years.

Kami and Mr. Popo kept me up to date with what was happening over the years until I decided to find a way to search the universe for any surviving saiyans. Just remaining in this planet knowing that the one that I love would never returned the sentiment was more than I could stand.

Eventually during my search, I found out that Goku had been killed in a battle with an android named Cell, and while that broke my heart all over again, I kept searching for his mother. I found Chi-Chi and Gohan in a little house close to where Goku grew up mourning Goten's “death”. 

Seeing the lack of compassion and the lies she was telling her oldest son, I just gathered Goten closer to my chest and left the house.

Later that day, I adopted Goten the human and saiyan way.

Flashback End

“Ok, Mom. If you say so! Hey! Do you think there will be any real challenges for us?” The boy lightly tugged on my ponytail sounding more like his cheerful self now, and I smiled at his excitement.

“I hope so, son. I would hate to just have to deal with “the champ” after all this time. It's been years since I had a decent fight.”

“Hey!”

“Other than sparing with you of course!” I giggled at his indignant tone. He was just so easy to rile up.

I heard him huff as his hands left my hair before I felt the small frame on my shoulder quiver. The snickers I could hear him muffle told me he found that as funny as I did. Just then, his laughter stopped, and Goten hopped down from my shoulders.

“Mom? What about that group? They feel strong.” He lightly tugged on my teal gi pants as he pointed toward a few loud voices. I looked down to see the direction he was pointing in only for my eyes to widen.

It had been years since I had seen any of them, but there they all were. Krillin, Piccolo, Yamcha, Bulma, Puar, Master Roshi, Oolong, the Ox King, Chi-Chi, and Gohan. There were a few faces I didn't recognize, and they all seemed to be looking around in excitement. 

Just as I was about to go over there and surprise them, Baba showed up with Goku at her side. My heart wrenched at the sight of his carefree grin as everyone rushed towards him. I placed a hand over my heart as he pulled Chi-Chi into a hug. It felt like there was something stabbing into the beating muscle the longer I watched.

I wanted almost nothing more then to be the one in his arms instead of that lying bitch, but as I watched further none of my old friends noticed the flickering of my ki. It made me feel relieved and hurt at the same time.

“Mom?” 

Goten was watching me with concern in his eyes as he felt my energy rise and fall with my emotions, and I felt tears sting my eyes as I looked down at his face. Forcing them away, I smiled down at the boy as I placed a hand on his head. He had such a big heart like his father.

“They are strong, Goten. I use to train with them years ago.” My eyes flickered back over to the group, and an idea suddenly took root in my head. “In fact, it's been so long since I've seen them, I want to surprise them at the tournament.”

The boy's face twisted into a look of astonishment as he glanced back over. My eyes followed his, and a soft smile curled my lips. They really will be surprised when they find out I'm here with Goten. I felt a little fear at the thought of Chi-Chi and Gohan finding Goten, but he's now my son in blood and name.

“Come on, Ten. We need to register.”


	2. Goten VS Trunks

“A junior division?!” I lifted a brow at Goten as he whined. He was pouting as he looked up at me. “Mooooom! How could you let them place me there?! You know there's no one strong enough to give me a challenge!”

“I'm not so sure about that, Goten,” I said as I kneeled down to his level. I nodded my head over to a boy with lavender hair in an olive green gi that was complaining to Bulma. That must be her son. “That boy over there is just as strong as you.”

Goten looked at his competition with skepticism before he glared back up at me. I let out a sigh and ruffled the spikes on his head. This boy loves to fight so much that it wears me out sometimes.

“Ok, think of this as another training session. You'll be pitted against weaker fighters, and I want you to fight at their level.” A serious look came over his face as I continued. “This will be good experience for you to learn to control your strength. Once you master this, you can make your opponents think you're not as strong as you are, and this will throw them off guard.”

“Fine…,” he huffed as he crossed his arms and his black tail lashed a bit behind him until he got it under control. “It doesn't mean I have to like it though.”

“Tell you what.” My words made him perk up as I rose to my feet. “I'll throw in some super saiyan training to make it up to you, and if you beat that other boy, I'll teach you my finisher technique.”

“Really?!” His black eyes sparkled as he grinned, and his tail started to wag. “You'll teach me the Star Shine?!”

I giggled as I watched Goten bounce on his feet. He grabbed one of my hands in a tight grip the longer I went without responding to his question.

“Yes, Goten, but only if you win.” I bent over a little at my waist as I lifted my free hand with my index finger extended. “Now, I need to go register, but I'll be back over here as soon as I can get.”

“You got it, Mom!” The boy gave me a salute as I straightened. The announcer called for the kids to line up, and Goten turned to follow the others. “See you later, Mom!”

I shook my head in fond exasperation as I headed to a courtyard to see a man demolish the punching machine the fighters were using. I blinked a bit in shock until I caught sight of the man. He was dressed in a navy blue training suit with white gloves and boots, and his hair stuck up like a flame.

‘Must be Vegeta.’ I thought as I remembered Kami’s description of the other saiyan prince. Then I realized what this meant. ‘Great…thanks to that hothead, I'm going to miss the majority's of Goten’s matches!’

Timeskip

I just managed to get my score in before the final match of the junior division started. I smothered a snicker once those that were left saw my score of 215, and I hurried up to the stands to find a good place to watch the fight.

Sure enough Goten was standing beside the announcer on one side and the lavender haired boy was on the other. I moved over to the side of the stadium closest to my son and sat on the metal railing. His eyes found me and he gave me an excited wave as the blond man lifted the microphone to his face.

“Alright, everyone! Before we start the final match, let's get to know our other fighter! You've heard about Trunks, now it's this young man's turn.” He placed a hand on Goten’s shoulder as he kneeled down to hold the microphone to the boy. “ Tell us your name.”

“Hi! I'm Goten Yasai and I'm seven years old!” He waved at the crowd making some of the women coo at his unintentional cuteness. His gi fluttered as his tail twitched behind him from where he had it coiled under his shirt. “I've been training in martial arts as soon as I could walk!”

“Really? Has your dad been training you that long?” Goten frowned at the announcer’s question.

“No. I don't have a dad, but my mom’s taught me everything I know. She's fighting in the adult division! She's an awesome fighter!” I felt my cheeks flush at the praise, and I gave him a thumbs up.

With that last somewhat awkward bit out of the way, it was time for the last match. I leaned forward with my auburn tail wrapping around the railing to help keep me steady. I narrowed my eyes as the two boys gave each other a polite bow before they slid into their stances.

Trunks looked vaguely familiar other than being Bulma's son. As I watched him study the younger boy, I realized that he was also Vegeta's son. They had the same narrowed eyed look, and I had to keep myself from laughing once I remembered that his son was named after underwear.

Trunks was the first to kick off the tiled arena, and he rushed at Goten in a burst of speed. Goten brought his arm up to block the punch, then followed up with a kick. This forced the other boy to leap back, and then the pair started to trade blows back and forth faster than the normal eye could see.

As they fought back and forth, they started to levitate in the air. The crowd that had been so loud just a few moments ago was now silent save for a few people cheering for Trunks. I looked away from the fight to see the astonished and flabbergasted expressions that had me laughing so hard I nearly fell off my perch.

The sound of a shockwave drew my eyes back to the boys who were now meeting each other blow for blow. Goten lashed out with a kick that caught Trunks in the side, making the boy fly back down to the ring.

“Alright, Goten! Keep it up!” I shouted at my son as he followed his opponent’s path. “Don't give him time to recover!”

The black haired boy increased his speed a bit, but a look of shock came over his face as Trunks balled up his body to land on his feet then jump to rush back at Goten. He didn't have enough time to get out of the way before a fist crashed in his face. The force of the punch caused another shockwave to erupt from the arena.

“Looks like we're going to work on reaction time.” I muttered as crossed my arms over my chest. “Still should have been able to dodge that…” I frowned as Goten landed on the tile and rolled a couple of times until he found his feet. Trunks landed a few feet from him in a stance and a smirk on his face. 

“Man…that was a good punch,” Goten said as he rubbed his cheek. “I didn't think there was anyone here that could give me a decent fight.”

“Same here,” the older boy chuckled back. “You’re tougher than you look. I'm still going to beat you though.”

The younger boy narrowed his eyes over those words before a smirk grew on his face. His straightened his stance with his hands hanging loosely at his sides. Trunks tensed and looked a little unnerved at the easygoing way Goten was standing.

“If you're so sure…,” my son started to mutter as his hands clenched into fists. My eyes widened as yellow ki started to flicker between his fingers. “Then how about we skip the warm up?”

“Falling Star!” Goten thrusted his hands out side by side with his thumbs pressed together and the rest of his fingers curled like claws. The two spheres merged and launched out at his opponent.

Trunks’ face went slack with shock before he took off to dodge the blast. The crowd behind the lavender haired kid started to panic, but Goten just moved his hands in the same direction Trunks took off in. The energy followed the path its creator guided it on with a disturbing amount of speed.

“What?!” Trunks shouted as he looked over his shoulder, and he increased his speed as he made a sharp turn to throw off the blast. Goten just giggled as he followed the others path once again.

This continued on for a few more minutes, but I noticed that Goten was straining to keep his technique up. Just when it looked like he would loose control of it all together, I caught a smirk on his face as he swiftly moved his hands once again.

The energy swirled out from behind Trunks who looked over his shoulder in confusion. His eyes glanced down at Goten only to widen when he saw that expression the younger boy had. 

“Trunks! Look out!”

“Huh?!” Blue eyes looked back in front of him only for the boy to head headlong into Goten’s attack. A large puff of smoke appeared after he ran into the energy, blocking out any chance of seeing Trunks.

The crowd was on their seats now as everyone waited for the smoke to clear. Once the air cleared, there was noting there. Whispers broke out all around me as people searched for the older boy.

“Huh? Where’d he go?” Goten asked as he floated up to where his attack had hit. “I know I didn't put too much power into that….” His eyes flickered back and forth trying to find the other. He then closed his eyes to try and concentrate on finding his opponent’s ki, and as soon as his eyes opened in alarm.

Just as he started to turn around, Trunks appeared from above him to grasp the younger boy in a stranglehold, his arms crossed at his throat and pulled behind his head by the older boy. Both boys wiggled in the air as Trunks fought to get a good grip on Goten, and Goten fought to get loose.

“Ha! Give up!” The confidence in the lavender haired boy’s voice had me frowning, but it didn't look good for my son. “I told you I'd win.”

“No! I won't…give up!” Goten grimaced as his arms were pulled back more. He tried to kick back, but the older boy had kept out of his range.

“Goten! Come on!” I called out as the younger boy flailed a bit. I rose to stand on the railing with my hands in fists as I shouted. “You can get out of this! I've had you in worse holds than this! Show that pampered princeling what a real warrior does!”

I just barely heard the sound of a sickening pop over the roar of the crowd before my son let out a choked cry, and my heart twisted at the noise. I was torn over watching to see if Goten could get himself out of this or going down to the arena to tell the referee to go head and call the match.

Just then a blur of black came out from under Goten’s gi shirt, and I watched in amazement as his little black tail quickly wrapped around Trunks’ neck. The older boy didn't even have time to get in a gasp before my son pulled with the furry limb with all his strength.

Trunks let out a choked sound as he was forced to release Goten and flung into the air so the smaller boy could slam both feet in the middle of his back. The hit caused the lavender haired boy to hurtle through the air at breakneck speed only to crash to the ground outside the ring.

Goten lifted his right hand to cover his left shoulder as he floated back to the ground. The boy was panting, and he was a little wobbly once he got to his feet. After a few seconds of standing still, watching the shallow hole that Trunks made when he landed, he straightened himself and looked over at the judges.

“TRUNKS HAS LANDED OUTSIDE THE RING! GOTEN IS THE WINNER!” The announcement had everyone on their feet cheering as loud as they could. I could hear the astonished whispers from the spectators around me, but I only had eyes for my son.

“YEAH!!! THAT’S MY BOY!!!” I shouted as I jumped on the railing. My tail was waving in the air almost as fast as Goten's was. I had a big smile on my face as I cupped my hands around my mouth. “GREAT JOB, GOTEN! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!”

My son just laughed as he waved to the crowd, and I felt so proud of him. I moved through the throng of people to make my way backstage behind the arena. I wanted to be there when Goten walks off stage to congratulate him.

As I walked, I passed by an odd pair of humans. Both had a large M on their foreheads, and their ki felt unusual. I turned back to look at them, but I had lost sight of them among the rest of the spectators.


	3. Chapter 3

After brushing aside some disgruntled parents that had kids that lost in the junior division, I came to the back room just in time to see Goten throw Hercule over his shoulder out of the ring. The man landed with a loud thud on the grass, and looked dizzy from the move.

I snickered as the announcer looked dumbfounded before he hurriedly announced that Goten had won the match and would receive the prize money after the adult tournament. The boy spotted me in the back and came barreling towards my direction.

“Mom! I did it!” He shouted as I braced myself for his tackle hug. The force of impact was so great, that I had to take a step back to stay on my feet. He wiggled around as I moved to place him on one of my hips. “I won! I won! Now you have to teach me Star Shine!”

“That you did.” I chuckled as I ruffled his hair. I shifted his weight as I started to walk out. He was getting to be too big for me to carry him like this, but he moved around until he was on my back with his hands on my shoulders and his legs and tail around my waist. “I'm so proud of you, Ten.”

He just gave me a beaming smile until he saw where I was walking. I wanted to reward him with a sweet treat, but his stomach and mine had other ideas. His eyes got great big, and the boy launched himself over my shoulder. He grabbed my hands and started to pull me along behind him.

“Come on, Mom! I'm starving!” I laughed as my son pulled me in the restaurant and took a seat at a table close to the kitchen. It made me glad that competitors got to eat for free as the two of us could eat as much as all the people in that stadium in a meal. “Hurry up! Hurry up!”

“Alright, Goten. Settle down.” I laughed as I grabbed the first worker I spotted and pulled the man along. “Bring us two of everything on the menu!”

“Er...Ma’am…are you sure you want that much?” The man asked, but he scurried away towards the kitchen when I gave him a look.

Within minutes, the whole table was covered in food, and we started to dig in immediately. I moaned at how good food is when you aren't the one that has to make it. I snagged a bowl of ramen and went to town on the noodles.

Goten was plowing through the food faster than I was. His father always was a big eater even by saiyan standards, and it looked like the boy inherited that aspect as well. I pushed a few trays of vegetables and fruits in his direction between bites. His dark eyes narrowed at me from above a set of chipmunk cheeks. I had to resist the urge to coo at the adorable face he made.

“You're still a growing boy, Goten,” I started after swallowing my mouthful of noodles. No matter what species, kids will be kids. “You need to eat your vegetables.”

My son huffed and stabbed his fork through a stalk of broccoli before eating it with more forceful chews then was necessary. I just rolled my eyes at his antics and grabbed a stuffed dumpling from the fresh plate the waiter had just dropped off. 

“Hey, Mom?” I glanced over at Goten as I shoveled rice in my mouth. He pointed at several empty plates with the back of his chopsticks. I narrowed my eyes at the boy as he spoke with half a drumstick of meat in his mouth before I nodded. “Can we get some more pizza?”

“Excuse me! Can we get five more pizzas, seven orders of dumplings, and three omelettes?!” As soon as I got a response, the two of us went back to chowing down. I had just finished the last plate of dumplings before a familiar voice came from not too far from me.

“Where does it all go? She eats more than Goku.” I glanced over to see a short man in a red shirt and khaki pants. The hair threw me off for a moment, but I would recognize that snark in his tone anywhere.

“Krillin!” I shouted as I pounced on him. I ended up taking the man by surprise and we ended up on the floor with him under me and my arms wrapped around his neck. I knew my greeting was a bit much, but I had missed the former monk. “It's been so long!”

“Huh?” Krillin sounded confused as I pulled back to smile at him. My tail came out from under my gi shirt, and a look of realization flashed over his face as soon as he saw it wagging. “Calla? Is that you?”

I smirked down at the human as I stood on my feet and rested a hand on my hip feeling proud at just how much I've grown in body and strength since the last time I saw him. I offered my other hand to help my friend off the floor as he beamed at seeing me again.

“Wow! Look at you! I didn't even recognize you for a sec!” His eyes looked over me once again as I pulled him to his feet. I use to be only a couple of inches taller than him, now I'm almost half a foot taller. “How’ve ya been? Wait…are you here to compete too?”

“Of course!” I giggled at look of nervousness on his face. He could feel that my ki dwarfed his with no trouble. “I'm a saiyan, of course I'm going to compete! Have you ever known me to turn down a fight?”

“Yeah!” I felt small hands on top of my head as a weight settled on my shoulders. Goten's tail swayed just off my right shoulder as the boy got comfortable. “Mom’s been talking about this tournament for a long time now.”

Krillin blinked in confusion for a few seconds as he looked up at my son. He turned to look at another table just around the corner of the restaurant before he pointed at Goten with his brows raised so high they were almost touching his hair.

“Uh…why is there a mini Goku on your shoulders, Calla?” He took a step closer to us as he studied the boy. “Man…he looks just like him too. That's a little freaky. Talk about a blast from the past.”

“He eats like him too,” I muttered just loud enough for Krillin to hear, and the black haired male covered his snicker with a cough. I looked fondly up when I felt Goten move around. “He's my son. His name is Goten.”

“Your son?!” Krillin froze with a look of disbelief on his face before he shook himself. Then he mumbled something that I had to strain my ears to pick up. “Man… I just got déjà vu for a second.” 

I tilted my head in confusion as I watched my friend look around cautiously before let out a relieved sigh. Goten giggled at the face he made, and I just shrugged it off. Krillin now looked back up at us with a contemplative expression.

“I should've know he was yours. I thought I recognized some of his moves, and that has you all over it, Calla, but why does he look like Goku?” His eyes narrowed at us, and I pulled Goten down off my shoulders.

“Goten, go finish up your lunch. We don't have much time before I need to go.” I gave him a look as soon as he opened his mouth to protest, but he went back to our table in the end without kicking up too much fuss. I sighed as I ran a hand through my messy bangs.

“It's a long story, Krillin,” I said in resignation knowing that he wouldn't let up until he heard the truth. “In all honesty, I don't even know where to start.”

“At the beginning. You start at the beginning, Calla.” I looked down to see the man cross his arms over his chest. I gave him a small smile which he returned as we leaned against the wall. I sighed as I prepared myself for this.

“Seven years ago, I was out training in the wilderness when I heard crying. I went looking for the sound, and imagine my surprise when I see a baby not even two months old about to become lunch for a saber tooth tiger! I scared the tiger away, and when I went to check on the infant, there he was. Oh, Krillin…as soon as I saw him, I knew he was Goku's son, but he looked awful!” I could feel tears stinging my eyes as I remembered just how bad Goten was at that time.

“He had been neglected, Krillin, and he was starving! I think I fed him almost a quarter of my blood in the month it took me to get him better. I thought got he wasn't going to make that first night, but Goten proved to be Goku's son. When I went looking for his family, I found out Goku was dead.” Here I paused, and both of us slipped down the wall to sit on the floor. Just saying those words caused my heart to twist in my chest. I felt Krillin lay a hand on my shoulder, and I gave him a grateful smile before I continued.

“Eventually, I found Chi-Chi and Gohan, but that…that woman!” I hissed with such venom that my friend look taken aback. “She outright told Gohan that while he was gone training with Piccolo that last time that Goten had gotten sick, and he died. I don't know where she got that from, cause Goten was very healthy after I nursed him back. Anyway, after hearing all of that…I just couldn't leave him there, Krillin. He'd end up dead before the year was over! So I adopted him, and here we are.”

I finished with my eyes downcast feeling tired all of a sudden. I flinched when I heard a growl come from Krillin’s mouth and the sound of his hand punching the floor. Cracks spider webbed out from where his fist had impacted, and I looked over at him in shock.

“I knew she wasn't any good for him!” The black haired man hissed through clenched teeth. He broke off into more mumbling that I could not make out, then he looked over at me with steel in his gaze. He placed an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug.

“You did the right thing, Calla. I can't imagine how hard it is for you to deal with it, but I think you're amazing for doing so. If anyone gives you any flack over it, I got your back.” His words made tears come to my eyes, and I leaned into the hug as I embraced him back.

“Thanks, Krillin,” I whispered in his shirt. “Just…just don't tell Goku. If Baba brought him here, then he's only got a day, and I don't want to ruin things by making him upset.”

“Fine,” Krillin sighed as he let me go. He dusted himself off after we both stood up. “You got too big a heart sometimes. We better go, the fights will start soon. Hang on, I'll be right back.”

My eyes followed the man as he went back around the corner, and I looked back over at the table where my son had almost eaten himself into a food coma. I giggled as I came up beside him. He patted his belly as he gave me a satisfied smile.

“Did you eat enough to get that black hole you call a stomach full?” I asked as I crossed my arms and lifted an eyebrow.

“Yeah! That was so good, Mom!” He hopped off the chair and looked around a bit. “Hey, where did your friend go?”

“Those bums!” Krillin’s voice came from behind me as he stomped back over to us. A scowl grew on his face as he stopped to stand beside me with his arms folded over his chest. “I leave for a few minutes, and they go on ahead without me!”

I smiled down at my friend as Goten floated up to sit back on my shoulders. I patted his shoulder as I steered him toward the exit. He grumbled a little more making my son snicker above my head.

“There, there, Krillin,” I giggled as I moved to walk beside him. “You can walk with us if you want. I would love the company.”

The black haired man opened his right eye to look up at me for a few seconds before a smile broke out over his face. He shook his head then crossed his arms behind it as he walked. After a couple minutes of silence, Krillin spoke up again.

“Oh! When we get up here, I want to introduce you to my wife.” He said that so nonchalantly that it took a moment for the words to register in my brain. My head jerked so fast that it made Goten lean back to keep from being hit with my ponytail.

“You have a wife?! Since when?!” I looked at Krillin on shock as I tried to wrap my mind around the situation.

“You don't have to say it like that.” His tone was sour as he glared at me a bit. “I'll have you know that there are women that did want to be with me, and I found one that I loved!”

“Whoa, take it easy,” I said as I held up my hands in surrender. We had come to a stop, and I gave a nervous laugh at the look on his face. Krillin could be scary if he wanted to be. “I'm just shock that you've settled down is all. I'm happy for you, Krillin. Honest.”

He studied me for a few seconds that had me awkwardly smiling at the situation. Once he huffed and looked away, we continued on to the selection board. Goten giggled above my head at my misfortune. I looked up with a glare, but my son couldn't see it, so I decided to try something else.

“If you don't stop that, I'm going to tell Krillin about the first time you turned super saiyan.” I smirked at the yelp he gave me and held in my own snickers. The man gave me a look as he gaped a bit.

“He can turn super saiyan already?” His eyes drifted up to look at my son, who was pouting I'm sure of it. Krillin looked like he was trying not to be shocked any more, but his expression wasn't very convincing. “Wow…that's impressive.”

“You think that's impressive?” I asked with my voice echoing off the walls as we entered a hallway. “Imagine my shock when he turned super two years ago! He managed to punch me through a mountain I was so shocked!”

“What!?” The human’s voice had gotten strained as he looked at me in astonishment. “Only five when he turned!? What kind of training have you put him through?”

I smirked proudly as I reached a hand up to ruffle my boy’s spikes. He gave me a little purr when I lightly scratched my nails over his scalp, and he rested his head on his hands that were still on the top of my head.

“Well, I was going to wait to train him, but one day after he started walking, Goten was mimicking a kata I was doing. He was doing so well that I started to show him more and more. He's gotten the basics down pretty good, now we are working on building up from there.”

“And you enjoy that, buddy?” Krillin asked Goten with that shell shocked look still on his face.

“Yeah, I do!” I could hear the grin in his words. I caught the sight of the end of the tunnel, and I took a deep breath to brace myself for whoever was out in the light. “I love to fight, and Mom makes it challenging for me. It's fun!”

“Yeah…you are definitely Calla’s son.” My friend said with a laugh. Krillin must have noticed my hesitation because he bumped my side with his shoulder making me look down at him. Seeing the encouraging smile he had on his face helped me relax, and I gave him a small nod back.

I faced forward with my head held high ready to face the world.


	4. Chapter 4

Krillin walked out first, and almost right away there was a voice that had my heart clenching a bit as it spoke up.

“Hey, Krillin! Where did you run off to?” I caught sight of Goku looking down at the shorter male with a smile in his face. “You're almost late!”

“Yeah…thanks for waiting for me by the way…,” the human muttered as he punched the saiyan in the side with a slight glare on his face. Once he saw Goku laugh with a hand rubbing the back of his head, he lost his irritated expression. “Actually, I ran into another old friend, and I wanted to catch up with her.”

He smiled as he looked over his shoulder at the shadows where I was still standing. I lifted my son off my shoulders to place him behind me. I wanted to meet them alone first, and he seemed to sense that. I swallowed my unease as six pairs of eyes looked in my direction as well. I took another deep breath and put a smile on my face as I strolled into the light.

“Hey, long time no see!” I waved at the others and came up to stand beside Krillin. Piccolo immediately recognized me, and looked over at me with a lifted brow. I smirked back over at the namekian. “Hi, Kamicclo!”

“Damn it, Calla!” The green man glared at me after he jerked at the sound of the name. “I don't care how fond Kami was of you, you're more trouble than you're worth. My name is still Piccolo!”

“Sorry! Couldn't resist!” I laughed as I held my hands up. It was obvious that Piccolo was the dominant personality after he had fused with Kami. It made me a little sad, but I think it would have freaked me out to see him act like my old mentor.

Piccolo glared at me for a few more seconds before I caught the faintest hint of a smirk before he looked away. Krillin laughed as he came up beside me to introduce the others. I was grateful to him because I still didn't have the courage to look at Goku yet.

“You know, that's what Goku called him the first time after they rejoined too.” The short male gestured over to the rest of the group, starting with the blond haired woman that was glaring at me. “This is my wife, 18.”

“Krillin! You didn’t tell me she was this beautiful or a fighter!” I interrupted my friend, and he blinked at me in confusion for a second. I looked back at her to see that she had lost the glare, but was looking at me with narrowed eyes. “You really hit the jackpot, didn't you?”

18 huffed as she looked away from us, but I could still see her pleased smile. Krillin’s cheeks were flushed as he mumbled over how wonderful she really was before he regained his composure.

“Right, this is Goku's son, Gohan…and Gohan’s friend, Videl.” I nodded at the two teenagers with a polite smile, and received one back. I could make out some resemblances between Goten and Gohan under that silly outfit, but Krillin continued before I could look closer. My friend had to pull on my arm, making me lean over to see the last person I wasn't familiar with.

“And that is Vegeta.” Here Krillin lifted his head to whisper in my ear before I could study the man that was standing with his back to us. “He's the saiyan prince in case you didn't know. I'm sure you'll hear it from him as soon as he sees your tail.”

I was allowed to straighten up, and the black haired human turned us towards the only person he hadn't reintroduced me too. I felt Krillin’s hand rest on my back for a couple of seconds before it fell away. 

“Calla?” Goku's voice had so much emotion that it had me looking over at him, and as soon as I saw him, my heart nearly stopped.

He hadn't changed much since the last time I saw him other than growing taller and gaining more muscle mass, but he still had that aura of kindness and pure heartedness that he always had. It was a little more jaded then when he was a teenager, but it was still apart of him much to my relief. It was the look in his eyes that baffled me. They held such an intense emotion in his eyes that had I couldn't name, and it made my heart race.

It looked like he was about to take a step towards me with his hand reaching out when a small red blur rushed passed him to hit my legs. I blinked down at my son who was glaring at some of the staff as they raced to catch up to him.

“I told you I'm not leaving!” Goten yelled as he wrapped his arms and tail around my left leg with a glare on his face. One of the men that had caught his breath opened his mouth, but my son almost snarled at him before he could say a word. “You can't make me! I'm staying with my mom!”

“Goten,” I said his name with a firm tone. He looked up me with a slightly guilty expression then it melted back into a glare when one of the staff took a step closer to us. “Don't be rude to the staff. Now, what is going on?”

“Ma’am, he can't be back here with the adult competitors.” A slightly heavy set man with a bald head and glasses spoke up. “He needs to wait with either his father or someone else in the audience.”

I narrowed my eyes at the man, and he took a step back at the look I gave him. I crossed my arms over my chest as my tail unwound from my waist to curl around the boy who had yet to release my leg.

“He doesn't have a father nor do we have anyone else here.” I almost bit out to the man making him flinch at my tone. “It's just the two of us, and I'm telling you that Goten stays with me.”

Wisely, the staff members backed off and left us alone after a couple of apologies. I just huffed and blew my bangs out from my eyes. I felt Goten move and looked down to see him sticking his tongue out at the men. As funny as I thought that was, I smacked the back of his head with my tail making him yelp.

“Ow! What was that for?” He glared up at me through black spikes as he held the back of his head. I only lifted a brow, and Goten muttered to himself a couple of times. I fought a smile that wanted to grow when he crossed his arms and looked away from me, but I just ruffled his hair before looking back at the group.

Piccolo stared at the two of us with a raised brow, Krillin and 18 just looked amused at my son's antics, Vegeta and Videl were staring at Goten and my tails, Gohan was looking at the boy in shock, but Goku…he had an unreadable look on his face once again. I had to resist the urge to frown as I watched the tall saiyan, but I figured I better introduce them before something else happens.

“Everyone,” I reached down to move the boy to stand in front of me as I spoke. “This is my son, Goten. I'm sure you recognize him from the junior division.” Here I sent a smirk over to Vegeta only to receive a glare in return.

“Nice to meet you,” Goten said as he bowed in greeting. It made me smile to see that my boy could use his manners. “Mom has told me so much about most of you.”

His words managed to shock the group into giving some greetings back, but Vegeta and Goku stayed silent. The prince's eyes flickered from our tails, to Goku, to the pendant around my throat before a sneer broke out over his face. I blinked a bit in confusion, but I decided to think on it later.

“Um, Calla?” Goku started to ask as he walked closer to me with his eyes darting back and forth from Goten and myself when the announcer came out with a couple more staff members. I felt thankful for the interruption, and I tried to keep from flinching away from the male saiyan.

“Alright, folks!” The blond haired man had for once left his microphone behind as he explained how we were to be divided up into matches. I didn't pay too much attention until my name was called out. I was the first of the powerful non-humans to be chosen, and I felt excited at the prospect of fighting one of my old friends.

“Alright, Calla. Just reach into this box and pull out a ball.” The blond haired man held out the box with a big grin. I reached in and pulled out a green ball with the number 4 on it. “Ah! Looks like you're fighting last years runner up, Spopovich.”

He waved an arm as he took the ball from my hand, and my eyes followed until I saw the humans I had passed earlier. The large male was sadistically grinning at me, but all I did was narrow my eyes at him. The ki he and his smaller friend just felt off, like oil trying to mix with water.

“Wow…at least your opponent isn't trash talking you.” Krillin’s voice made me look away from the pair. “Check out mine…,” the short male muttered as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. What I saw nearly made me bust out laughing.

A large brown skinned man dressed with clothes from the desert region was loudly complaining about his lackluster opponent. It reminded me of how smaller dogs would constantly bark and act like they were several times their real size. 

“I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, Krillin,” I giggled as I looked back down at him. “Just try not to hurt him too much when you fight him, otherwise you can kiss that prize money goodbye.”

“Oh, man…” he grimaced at the thought. “18 would kill me if I got disqualified. She really wants that money; she threatened me a couple of times before I agreed to enter. Hey…what would you do if you won the money?”

“I would ask Bulma and her dad to build me a spaceship,” I answered back as I leaned back on the wall with my eyes on Goten who was watching the rest of the fighters get matched up. I only turned when I heard my friend make a choked noise.

“What? Why?”

“Well, I want to find the other saiyans. I mean with a race capable of space travel, I’m sure others escaped Frieza’s notice. I know of at least one other that's out there, and I want to meet him. Perhaps if there's enough of us, we can find a new planet to make our own.” I smiled faintly at the thought.

“But-but…you're talking like you wouldn't ever come back!” Krillin looked at me with wide eyes. “You can't just leave!”

“Krillin, other than a couple of friends, there's nothing for me here.” I shrugged. “The only family I have is Goten, and he's coming with me. Do you know how hard it is to live here? I mean…I feel like a freak sometimes when I'm with humans! I can't be myself here, and it's stifling at times. I want…I want to be with others of my own kind…perhaps then my heart will finally heal.”

The black haired man gave me look full of sympathy. He came closer and placed an arm around my back. I soaked up the comfort from that embrace like a dry sponge, and I gave him a look of gratitude.

“I never thought of it like that. You still…” he didn't even have to finish his question as I nodded while playing with the stone on my necklace. I looked towards the opposite wall with unseeing eyes as I tried to push the pain away.

“Calla, its been almost 20 years, and he’s…”

“I know.”

++POV Change++

“Gohan, stop staring at the kid.” Videl hissed punching him in the shoulder. “Its creeping me out.”

“But he…” Gohan’s voice was thin and strangled sounding. Videl looked up concerned. The teen was pale and visibly in emotional pain.

“Gohan, what’s wrong?”

“I had a little brother.” Gohan finally managed to say. Even seven years later Goten’s death hurt to think about.

“Wait, you said had-”

“I…I went to train with a family friend when he was a baby, just for a few weeks. I was angry and hurting from my dad’s death so we went to the middle of nowhere to help me take a step back from everything. When I came home…”

“I’m so sorry, Gohan.” Her hand gently if awkwardly rested on his shoulder.

“That boy over there is the same age my brother would have been.” The teens voice shook. “He looks just like him, like a mini version of my dad. He has the same name.” Videl’s head snapped around to look at the kid. Tail aside…

“Ok, tail aside he does have a lot of resemblance to your Dad. But I think you’re pulling my leg a bit about the same name, Gohan. Seriously, his name is Goten, are you sure you didn’t mishear?”

The teen said nothing as he pulled out his wallet and pulled a worn photo from it before handing it to her hesitantly. The photo was worn out in places and obviously old. It was a picture of a much younger Gohan but he was holding and playing with a baby. Her eyes slid to the kid watching the other fighters and had to admit the kid was scarily similar to the one in the picture. There on the back was the date written in a very feminine script ‘Gohan and Goten’.

“That’s one of the only pictures of my brother. I went on my trip a few days later.”

“He can’t actually be your brother, I mean he calls that Calla lady his mom and has a tail like her. Although…your Dad seemed to know her from somewhere if the look on his face was anything to go by.” Videl pointed out. “If I didn’t know any better…”

“What?” Gohan asked as she trailed off.

“Maybe your dad…”

“My father didn’t cheat on my mother!” Gohan almost snarled. Videl held her hands up placating.

“I’m just saying it’s a possibility. Look at him.” She pointed to Goku. Gohan saw his father was staring rather intently at not only Goten but Calla who was sitting with Krillin and playing with some necklace she wore. He didn’t miss his father’s reaction to seeing her either. Krillin called her an old friend, but if so where was she during all the fights over the years. Videl didn’t know about their tails, in fact the kid having one meant he had to have a saiyan parent which Calla obviously was but that didn’t mean his father….

“I think you should ask your dad if you can Gohan.” She said quietly. “Something really weird is going on here.”


	5. Chapter 5

Goku could not take his eyes off the woman that was talking to his best friend. It had been years since he had last seen her, and a whole bunch of different feeling surged in his heart. He had never felt such confusion in his life. Not even the thought of fighting Vegeta later on in the tournament could tear him from the subject of his thoughts.  
  
The saiyan male was extremely happy to see Calla again, but he felt hurt at the same time. Why had she disappeared like she did? Where had she been all these years? He couldn’t even get answers from her because of all the interruptions between everyone else and her constant avoiding him.  
  
She was absolutely beautiful, and he hadn't realized just how much he missed her until he saw her. Calla…he was trying to wrap his mind the fact she had been gone nearly 20 years.  
  
Calla had been an important part of his past, then one day she was just gone. He tried to look for her, but Chichi had refused to let him even leave the house for any of his searches to get underway, he wanted her to meet his son. She had been his oldest friend and only one that was like him in the whole world. It was like a part of him disappeared when she left. Bulma and Krillin had looked for her when the saiyans came; but it was like she disappeared from the planet, same thing with the androids when he personally looked before they started their training.   
  
Then there was the young boy that called her his mother. He could feel something that felt like anger simmer in his blood at the thought of Calla having a son. He shook his head trying to understand why it was so infuriating that Calla had a child. She always wanted children when they were growing up. He knew that and should have been happy for her.  
  
Goten…he looked just like him. Why did her son look like him? And why didn’t the boy have a father? He wanted to know if the man treated her right, for his sake he better have been because if not and he found out. Maybe if he hadn’t agreed to marry Chichi he could have…  
  
“Dad.” Gohan distracted Goku from his thoughts and the taller man realized he was breaking the railing he leaned against. As soon as his hands unclenched there were dents in the metal that had almost completely twisted it into an unrecognizable shape.   
  
“Sorry, Gohan, I was thinking.” Gohan followed his father’s gaze over to the saiyan woman where she sat with Krillin’s arm around her shoulder. She now had soft smile on her face with her eyes locked on the boy.   
  
“Who is she, Dad?” Goku stared at his son with a raised brow at the hostile tone in his eldest’s question. He couldn't recall the last time there was that much venom in the teen’s voice.   
  
“Her name is Calla. I..,” he wasn’t sure how to explain this to his son. “I’ve known her for a very long time. We trained and fought together.”  
  
The older saiyan narrowed his eyes as he watched the boy run over Calla, and his heart twisted in his chest as he saw her face light up. He blinked in confusion at the feeling as he resisted the urge to cover his heart with his hand.   
  
Why was he feeling this way?  
  
“Did you cheat on Mom with her?” The question was sudden enough that Goku snarled and whirled around to unload on the now visibly disturbed teen when Piccolo caught Goku by the shoulder.  
  
“How could you ever think I’d cheat on your mother?” He hissed in anger. Seeing his son not backing down only made his temper flare brighter.   
  
“I don’t know what to think because you and mom always argued before you died. Then she shows up with a 7 year old that looks just like you. So explain how that’s possible, Dad.”  
  
“Gohan, that’s enough.” Piccolo growled quietly. He had a look of disappointment on his face that made Gohan look away from the pair. “This isn’t like you, we taught you to have more respect than this.”  
  
“Your mother and I have very different opinions about what is best for you Gohan, and how I needed to behave as a husband.” Goku said quietly. “That’s why we argued. Your mother loved someone that didn’t exist and once she learned that, she wanted to change me into that person. I honestly tried to give her what she wanted, but I can’t give up training and fighting. I can’t not try to save people. I wanted to train you as a child so you wouldn’t be afraid of everything, so you could protect yourself; but I was shot down. Before the Cell Games, she wanted me to stop everything altogether. She didn’t like me being a “bad influence” on you or my friends polluting your head with all this fighting.”  
  
“So you-”  
  
“I never cheated on your mother.” Goku snapped. “We didn’t have the best of relationships, Gohan, but I remained faithful because of our marriage. You should know that’s not how I am.”  
  
“He’s telling the truth, Gohan, your father hasn’t done anything with the saiyan woman.”  
  
“How would you even know about any of that?” Gohan stammered with a blush.  
  
“Kami.”  
  
“Kami?” Goku questioned.  
  
“Calla apparently followed in your foot steps and trained with Kami after you won the world martial arts tournament. After a few years she completed the training and then dropped off the face of the planet. She came back to the look out periodically to use the different training chambers, but she was otherwise off the grid.”   
  
"Oh..." Goku looked over at Calla again as he thought on that new information. He vaguely noticed that Krillin and Goten were gone, and she was just sitting against the wall with her eyes closed. It made him feel depressed that she had been there all along, but she never once came to see him. “Has she been by since I died…?”  
  
“No. Kami last saw her just before Raditz came.” The namek furrowed his brow as he crossed his arms in thought. “Kami had a conversation with her that he's blocked me from accessing when we joined for some reason, but she never came back after that. Even her ki vanished from his awareness.”  
  
Goku's head jerked up at that information. It was impossible to hide from Earth’s Guardian no matter how much one suppresses it. Seeing as he wasn't going to any answers by standing around, the tall saiyan started to walk over to the woman. He didn't notice the scowl on Gohan’s face as he passed him, he was too focused on Calla sitting there alone.   
  
"And the winner is Krillin!” The sound of the announcer and crowd cheering started the distracted man, and he turned to see the short human give a wave to the crowd as he made his way back behind the arena. “Would Calla and Spopovich please come to the arena!”  
  
The tall saiyan cursed in his head as another interruption prevented the chance of actually talking to her. At this rate, he would never get to talk to her. He was actually considered just grabbing the saiyan female and ITing to some place where they could be alone and demand some answers from her.  
  
Calla walked passed him without even looking in his direction, and Goku felt a stab of pain at her avoidance of him. The black haired man's eyes narrowed when he saw a small flinch as he reached out to stop her so he could wish her luck, not that she needed it. It hurt that she was avoiding him.  
  
“Mom!” Goten rushed up and hugged one of Calla’s leg, and the sight simultaneously warmed and hurt Goku. “Kick his butt!”  
  
Calla’s smile at those words caused Goku to freeze. Just seeing the pure joy in her eyes at the boy's confidence in her ability was the most beautiful thing he had seen in a long time, and something that moved in his peripheral vision made him realize that he was not the only one to watch her.  
  
Vegeta was also watching her very closely, and there was a glint in the prince's eyes that made Goku want to snarl at the older man. It was all he could do to keep from baring his elongated teeth in the other’s direction. He hadn’t felt urges like this in decades.  
  
“Goku?” Krillin’s voice made him jerk. “Are you alright? Your hand is bleeding.”  
  
“Huh?”   
  
Sure enough, as soon as Goku's eyes looked down, he could see drops of blood dripping from his clenched fists.  
  
“I’ll be fine, just frustrated.” He said wiping the blood on his leg.  
  
“It’s Calla, isn’t it.” Krillin said as he moved to lean against the wall so they could have some privacy, Goku following him. His old friend nodded.  
  
“Why won’t she talk to me, Krillin?”  
  
“You haven’t spoken to her since the tournament, Goku.”  
  
“Not for lack of trying.” The saiyan said bitterly. “I’ve looked for her, you looked for her, I wanted her to meet Gohan. I still wanted her in my life. What did I do that made her hate me, Krillin?”  
  
“She doesn’t hate you, Goku.” Krillin softly said. “I think she didn’t want to cause problems with Chichi so she stayed away. They didn’t exactly get along when we were kids.” Goku nodded having to concede to that fact.  
  
“Also, you’ve been dead for 7 years.” The former monk pointed out. “She wasn’t expecting to see us here, seeing you back from the dead was a pretty big shock. She didn’t even have warning like we did either.”  
  
“Ah…right…” Goku mumbled as he scratched the back of his head. His eyes drifted up to the halo above his head with a glare, and for the first time since he sacrificed himself did he truly regret what he did.  
  
Krillin watched the taller man out of the corner of his eye, and he bit his lower lip wondering if he should do anything about what the saiyan female had told him about earlier. In a way, he could agree that with Goku only being here for a day, he didn't need all the drama that would come from the revelation of what Chichi did. On the other had…Goten was his son as much as Gohan was, and the human felt like his friend had a right to know.  
  
He only hoped that Calla wouldn't kill him later when she found out.  
  
"Besides…Calla’s been busy with her adopted son,” Krillin casually said as he moved his arms behind his head. He kept his eyes open a crack so he could see Goku's reaction, but he also noticed Gohan and Piccolo jerked their heads in his direction as well. A nervous laugh bubbled up in his throat as the pair joined Goku and all three stared down at him.  
  
What had he just done?  
  
“Adopted? What do you mean adopted?” Gohan's voice was a harsh whisper as he took menacing step closer to the shorter man.  
  
“Eh..heh heh…well…”Krillin stammered as he held his hands up. "That's just what she told me when I asked her. It kinda threw me for a loop seeing a mini Goku. Calla said she found him out in the woods about to be eaten by a tiger."   
  
"And she didn't look for his family?"  
  
"Gohan, it can't be who you think it is." Piccolo stated placing a hand on the teen's shoulder to calm him down. "You told me he died."  
  
"Who died?" Goku asked confused. Gohan looked hurt at that question.   
  
"Didn't you watch us at all in Otherworld? Isn't that what you get to do when you aren't training?" Goku frowned and shook his head.   
  
"It doesn't work that way. I'm only allowed so many glimpses of this side." Goku admit with a frown. "I broke the rules not long after I died. It was the tournament you participated in and ultimately fought Bojack." Gohan's eyes widened.   
  
"That was really you. I was never actually sure if I imagined it or not."  
  
"It was me." Goku looked pained as he admit that. "I wasn't supposed to come back and intervene that day. And it was my fault Bojack escaped to begin with."  
  
"How were you-"  
  
"When Cell blew up King Kai's planet, Bojack was trapped inside it. Cell wouldn't have destroyed it if I hadn't taken him there. I was lucky King Kai vouched for me after the fact." Goku explained somberly. "Because I broke the rules and returned to the mortal world I was no longer allowed to see what was happening on earth like normal spirits. I can only see this plane for a few minutes every 10 years.”  
  
"How are you allowed back then? You've only been dead 7 years." Krillin asked confused.   
  
"I earned a favor from one of the kais and good behavior. Baba was surprisingly insistent I be allowed to come for this tournament. It was kinda weird." He said scratching his head.   
  
"I'm...I'm sorry, dad." Guilt ate at the teen, his father couldn’t see them and it was his fault.   
  
"It's ok, Gohan." Goku said placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "I'm glad I saved you that day regardless of my punishment. Now what happened that I need to know about?"  
  
"Mom...you had another son." Gohan said almost choking on the words. Even after 7 years it still hurt. "But..."  
  
"His name was Goten." Piccolo intervened. "I took Gohan on a training trip so help him deal with some of his anger and grief. We were gone two weeks and when Gohan went home Chichi told him Goten had died of illness."  
  
The tall saiyan just froze as he looked at the group with wide eyes not wanting to believe what he had just heard. Dark eyes blinked in confusion as his mind raced to process the information, and he caught a couple of concerned looked from his son and oldest friend the longer he remained silent.  
  
“What…?” The word was small and weak making Krillin cringe, Gohan flinch, and Piccolo look away. His body started to shake without his knowledge while his eyes pleaded with the namekian for the news to be a lie. His breath caught in his throat, and if he weren't already dead, he would have been worried about suffocating.  
  
“No…its not true…” Goku fell to his knees when Piccolo didn't make a move to change his earlier words. His head bent down to gaze at the floor as tears blurred his vision. “A…another son….and I…never…got to even…know…about him….?”  
  
“Why… why didn’t…they tell me?” Goku whispered. “They should have told me…I’d have been allowed to meet him in Otherworld. He could have stayed with me!” Goku continued almost hysteric. Gohan knelt and hugged his Dad unsure what else to before Goku’s ki started to spike wildly.  
  
“Dad, you have to calm down or you’ll transform!” Gohan whispered urgently.  
  
_Goku, what is going on down there, I could feel that spike over here!_ Goku flinched at the volume in his head.  
  
“Why didn’t you tell me!” He growled back looking towards the sky.  
  
_Tell you what?_ The old Kai was confused.  
  
“That I had another son and that he died! I was forbidden from knowing what happened here, not in Otherworld so why?”  
  
_Goku, none of your family has died, well not since your grandfather when you were a child. I’ve kept an ear out for that and King Yemma always has us inform next of kin if they aren’t sent to HFIL_.  
  
“Wha….then that means…”  
  
_Your youngest son is still alive_.  
  
His eyes locked onto the small boy watching the ring sitting on the wall so he could see. ‘Calla said she adopted him, and his name is Goten. And he looks just like me.’  
  
_Because he’s your son_. King Kai said. _Seriously you should have figured that out just looking at the kid_.  
  
“Dad?”  
  
“That’s your brother.” Goku said standing without taking his eyes off Goten. “He’s not dead.”  
  
“How did he end up with her then? And why did mom….” Gohan asked concerned and confused.

“I don’t know but we’re going to find out.” Goku said looking at Calla as she took her stance.   
  
“Alright! Let the match begin!”

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N: Hey, everyone.
> 
> I know a lot of you have been waiting patiently for this next chapter; but before you read it, I've got some news. 
> 
> My beta and I are almost finished with Finding Love, so this story is going to be placed on hold until we complete it. Also, my health has taken a bit of a turn, and I need to have surgery soon. I'm not sure when, but I'm going to still work on Finding until I do so I can get back to work on this story.
> 
> I've got a lot of plans for Different, so don't worry about it remaining unfinished!

Calla stepped around the partial wall as she walked over to the arena for her match.

‘What was that?! It’s Goku, he’d never hurt me. Way to go Calla now he’s going to wonder what’s wrong and be worried for his only day here. He’s already curious about Goten and why I’m avoiding him. Why did I have to be a wimp and flinch from him?’ She berated herself as she walked passed him just a few minutes ago, and the look on his face as she did that…

The woman bit her lower lip as she tried to think of the reason of why she did that. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't see her other friend coming towards her until he spoke.

“Hey!” Krillin’s voice made her jump a little as she looked up. “Good luck out there, Calla!” A grin broke out on her face.

“Thanks, Krillin.” She gave the short man a half hug before continuing on.

Feeling slightly more cheerful, the saiyan female continued on until she was stopped once again only this time it was the announcer. He had a large smile on his face, and Calla noticed that the man hadn't aged much in the time she had been gone.

“Calla Yasi! I thought I recognized your name earlier. It's been a very long time!” He walked closer to her and patted her shoulder. “The last time you guys came out to fight was the 23rd Budokai. I met up with some of the others of your group earlier, and I'm so happy to see all of you!”

“Really?” Calla asked with an incredulous expression. “I seem to recall a massive amount of property damage whenever we were here for a tournament. I also remember several times were your life was almost cut prematurely short as well.”

“Ha ha ha!” The man let out a bark of laughter at that. “While that was true, there was hardly ever a dull fight with you guys! I mean all of you can do amazing things, not like that fights we've had lately at all…oh! That reminds me. Is that Goten boy your and Goku's son?” She froze at the words. Kenny grinned, the look on her face the only answer he needed.

“I knew it! I took one look at the kid and said ‘I’ll eat my microphone if that’s not-”. The female clapped her hand over the blond’s mouth to shut him up.

“Shh! Goten is my son, Goku and I were never in a relationship. I haven’t even seen the man since the 23rd Budokai.”

“You didn’t say he wasn’t the father.” His eyebrow rose as he looked at her.

“Ok fine, just don’t….don’t say anything about Goku please.” Calla pleaded.

“Hmmm…well it's none of my business anyway I suppose, but I highly doubt that people can't see the resemblance, Calla. I mean…they're almost identical.” Kenny huffed as he crossed his arms. 

The saiyan woman lowered her head in resignation. She knew that the similarities between father and son were very strong, but she had hoped that none of her old friends would have been here. Now she knew she'd be lucky if she could make it to Dr. Briefs before the others tried to question her.

“Hey, don't worry about it, Calla. Just focus on your match.” Kenny offered the upset woman a smile as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “I'm sure things will work out for you in the end. Now go up there and show everyone just who trained that amazing son of yours!”

Calla blinked in confusion at the blond haired man before a small smile bloomed on her face. She nodded and hurried over to the arena where her opponent was waiting. Foregoing the steps, the black haired woman jumped onto the tiled platform making the crowd cheer.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen! This match is between last years martial arts championship runner up, Spopovich,” Kenny called as he gestured with one arm before switching to gesture with the other. “And Calla Yasi! That's right folks! You're looking at this years junior champs very own mother, and she's one tough fighter with an impressive record of appearances at many of the previous tournaments as one of the 8 finalists!”

“Heh heh!” Spopovich chuckled from his corner. “She's a woman. There's nothing tough about her! Why don't you go back home and clean house?!”

His words made the crowd boo and Calla glare. She could vaguely hear her son shout over the crowd’s disapproval, and while the sentiment was appreciated, she was going to wash his mouth out over his choice of words. Her dark eyes flickered to Kenny, and he gulped at the fire burning within them.

Calla slid into her stance gracefully and glared at her opponent. The tip of her tail was twitching from where it was wrapped around her waist as she waited for the call to start the match. It didn't matter if his ki was unusual or not, Calla was going to beat Spopovich into the ground.

“Let the match begin!”

++DBZ++

“Yeah, kick his ass, Mom!” Goten cheered as the crowd roared. He secretly hoped his mom hadn’t heard that particular cheer, she used the worst tasting soap when she didn’t like his choice of words. He hung from the partial wall by his arms with a bright grin on his face.

“You like watching your Mom fight, huh?” A voice asked behind him as he cheered watching his mom weave around her opponent’s blows. She moved around the bulky man’s arms like a serpent. He wasn’t half as fluid as she was.

“She’s the best!” He stated. As if the world champ or one of her old friends could beat her, it was just a fact that she was the strongest.

“Yeah, she’s always been brilliant at fighting. Did she start training you very young?”

“Only because I copied what she was doing. I like training, its fun.” Goten said trying to watch the match. There was a gasp that came from the crowd that had the boy trying to concentrate on what just happened.

“What about your Dad?”

“I don’t have a dad.” Goten stated as his tail bristled twitching in irritation. The man behind him was starting to irritate him. He wanted to watch his mom fight!

“So its just the two of you, huh?”

Goten growled finally turning to see who was beside him. His heart skipped a beat when he saw an older version of himself for a moment before realizing it was his mom’s old friend. Dark eyes slightly narrowed, as he looked closer at Goku. ‘He looks….Mom always said my Dad was the greatest fighter in the world when he was alive. And he’s dead….’

He wasn’t stupid. There was only one real reason to look so much like the man beside him….not unless he had a twin somewhere. Still even if this man could be his father, he didn’t like how his mom was acting around this man.

“You ok, Goten?” Son Goku asked with a curious tilt of his head.

“Leave my Mom alone.” The words came out hard and short. Goten could see the confusion and surprise on his face. “I don’t like you. You make her nervous, and you keep staring at her. She flinched when you were by her.” The boy wasn’t expecting the hurt reaction on his older double’s face.

“I just want to talk to her. It’s been….it’s been a very long time since I’ve seen her that’s all. I tried to find her over the years, but she’s really good at not being found when she doesn’t want to be.”

The child couldn’t help the sympathetic nod; his mom still kicked his a- butt at tracking drills. He never once found her during practice if she was being serious. He couldn't help but notice a look of sadness as the older man's gaze flickered to the woman in the arena. Goten followed his eyes and they watched Calla punch Spopovich in the stomach as she took the offensive before looking back at the saiyan.

There was pain in those eyes that twisted the child's heart. He could remember his mother getting the same look in her eyes when she would talk about her past, and Goten couldn't help but want to cheer Goku up like he always did for his mom when she got like this.

“She use to tell me stories about you,” the boy muttered after a few minutes of silence between them. He felt like he shouldn't be saying anything at all, but he just couldn't stand that sad look. “Like how you rode a nimbus cloud and wielded the legendary power pole on top of climbing Korin’s Tower. She told me that you took on an entire army by yourself when you were a kid and won…was that true?”

Goten watched as Goku's head turned to him with an astonished look on his face before a small, relieved smile broke out. The smile confused him, but he was glad that the tall saiyan didn't look so down anymore.

“That's right. It was the Red Ribbon Army. They had hurt a friend of mine, and I wanted to help. I had taken a break from training with Master Roshi and your mother to hunt for my grandfather’s dragon ball when that happened.” Goku smiled at the memory of adventure.

"Wait...so you trained with Mom when you were kids?!” Goten looked up wide-eyed at the older man. While his mom did tell some stories, he still didn't know a lot from when she was a child.

"Haha! Yeah, and boy can she fight! Me, your mom, and Krillin all used to train together when we were kids under Master Roshi, the turtle hermit.” Goku smiled widely down at the boy as he leaned against the wall to be on a more even level with Goten. “We use to spar all the time, but now that I think back…your mom and I never actually fought all out or in a Budokai Tournament. That was something we’ve always wanted to do so we could find out who was the stronger fighter. Something or someone would always stop us from getting too far into our fights.”

“Mom would totally kick your butt.” Goten giggled in a matter of fact tone. “She can go all the way up to Super Saiyan 2! There's no one who can beat her!”

“Really? Super Saiyan 2?” Goku had both eyebrows lifted so high that they almost touched his hairline. His eyes darted over the woman once again with an unreadable expression. “That's very impressive. Hm? Hey, Goten? What's that around her neck?”

Goten followed the adult’s finger to see the pendant around Calla’a neck which was easily visible from where she was holding her opponent in a chokehold. He stilled a bit wondering if he should say anything, but his mouth opened before he could stop himself.

“She says it's her promise necklace. She's had that since before I can remember, and she never takes it off. Whenever she's sad, she always holds onto it.”

“Promise necklace?” Goku asked confused by the name. Goten just shrugged as he went back to watching the fight.

“I asked her that too. She said someone very special gave it to her before they left to go somewhere for a long time. It was a promise that they’d come back…at least I think that’s what she said, I was really little, and she didn’t like talking about it.”

Goten finally turned his full attention to the fight because it looked like his mother was finally ready to finish things so he didn't notice the look of utter shock and realization that came over the older saiyan's face.

++DBZ++

The black haired woman thought she had Spopovich as she held him in the chokehold, but a surge of that foul ki make her release her hold on the man. The feeling of the energy itself made her skin crawl. She narrowed her dark eyes as she put some distance between them. 

‘What is going on? I've never felt ki like that before in my life. Something…something's not right with this man or his friend.’ Calla slipped into her stance as she waited for her opponent to get up.

When he started to chuckle, her muscles tensed. She caught movement in her peripheral vision, and her body was leaping in the air before her mind caught up. A wave of sickly purple ki followed her. While it wasn't enough to do any significant harm to herself, the crowd behind her was in serious danger.

"Mom!"

The female saiyan extended one hand and let out a shout as an orb of yellow ki that matched the others size and strength shot out from her palm to cancel the purple blast. The resulting explosion blinded everyone in the vicinity. 

Using the distraction to her advantage, Calla dove straight down with a ki blast forming between her cupped yet separated hands. The teal colored orb sparkled under her fingers until she drew back one arm and threw the energy.

“Comet Strike!”

Those words were the only warning Spopovich got, but they were enough for him to dodge the blast only for him to run into the fists of an angry saiyan woman.

Calla ducked under another punch from the overly muscular man to give in an upper cut to the jaw. She quickly followed that by doing a roundhouse kick to the ribs that caused Spopovich to go skidding across the tiles to the edge of the arena.

“Still think I'm not tough?!” She shouted as she quickly rushed after him. The saiyan woman had been toying with her opponent during the entire fight. Normally, she wouldn't do something like this, but that bastard’s sexist comment from earlier had roused her ire. Now she wanted to drive home that she wasn't like any of the weak women on this planet.

Spopovich dodge out of the way, and Calla dug her fingers in the tile to keep from going out of the ring. She pulled herself back on the platform and kicked the man's legs out from under him. While he was suspended in the air, she jumped and delivered a bitch slap to his face that caused him to land on the grass outside the arena.

The Kenny and the crowd were stunned that Calla had essentially bitch-slapped her opponent into a loss, but the cheers were soon almost deafening. The woman herself had crossed her arms over her chest with a smug look on her face at the look on the bald man's face.

“Well, that's a ring out! Calla Yasi is the winner!” Kenny announced. “In all my years at this tournament I’ve never seen someone slapped out of the ring, that’s a first people.”

"Way to go, Mom!” Goten cheered as he jumped off the wall and ran towards his mom. Calla smiled as she waved at the cheering spectators and was nearly blindsided by Goten’s rush to congratulate her.

“That was so awesome! Can you teach me Comet Strike too? Please!”

Goku smiled and cheered with the rest of their friends at Calla’s win. Krillin just grinned.

“Just like the good old days. She might just give you a run for your money Goku.” He teased.

“I can’t wait, Krillin. I might finally get to fight her after all these years.” He said watching Calla ruffle his son’s hair. He couldn't help but feel excitement run though his blood at the thought of fighting her, but he would still rather talk with her first.

Neither noticed Spopovich get to his feet and glare angrily at the woman with pure hatred in his eyes. He gathered more of the dark ki within his body and aimed it at the woman that had humiliated him.

"You bitch…!” The man snarled as he moved to blast the woman and her son. “I won't stand to lose to the likes of you!” 

Calla jerked her head in the enraged man's direction to see ki heading her way.

Goku and Krillin shouted as they started for the arena while Piccolo and Gohan moved towards Spopovich to stop him.

Just before the blast could hit, a blast of yellow wind overpowered the purple ki making the entire stadium shake. The wind slammed into the man hard and blew Spopovich back into a wall where he caused cracks to form as soon as he made impact.

The bald man groaned as he shook his head, and as he opened his eyes, he could see flickers of a golden aura surrounding Calla, Goten pushed behind her as her tail wrapped around the boy. Her eyes flashed teal as she snarled towards him, but before he could do anything else, Yamu was there pulling him away.

“Just shut up, you idiot!” He hissed at the larger man. “You'll get us kicked out of here before we can collect any energy for Master Babadi!”

Goku growled at the man, furious with his underhanded behavior. ‘How DARE he attack her!? I’ll end him if he lays-‘ He froze realizing just how aggressive he was being. Goku shook his head missing the odd stare Krillin and Piccolo gave him along with Vegeta’s sneer.

“Goku?”

“He shouldn’t have done that.” The male snapped. “The match was over, Goten was right there in the ring with her and her guard was down. He could have hurt them both!”

“Hey man, just….calm down alright.” Krillin stammered a bit seeing the rage in his friend’s eyes. “Man…do you feel her power? She’s almost super right now.”

With narrowed eyes Calla watched Yamu drag his reluctant friend away. Their eyes raked her form as their foul energy shifted a bit before they left then she let her ki drop.

“Um, Calla….what was that?” Kenny asked in shock.

“No one hurts my son, especially not some low life trash attacking after the match is over.” She said coldly as she picked up the boy and stalked out of the ring. She needed to calm down before she tried to kill Spopovich here in the ring. No one was going to hurt her cub, not with her able to stop them.

She stormed passed her old friends with her tail lashing behind her as another growl escaped her lips. Calla went to an unoccupied corner of the room and set Goten down on his feet, and she immediately started to look over him for any injuries.

“Mom, stop it…I'm fine.” The boy said as she finished patting him down. Seeing nothing out of place, some of the tension in the woman's body relaxed. “What's wrong with that man's ki? It felt awful.” He softly said with a shiver.

“I don't know, Ten. Whatever it is…it's not natural. I don’t like it.” There was still anger in her tone as she straightened on her feet. Her eyes flickered around the room on the lookout for Spopovich in case he tried to start something once again. The looks that pair gave her after she flung the bald man away with just the force of her ki alone had her on edge.

"Calla?" Krillin’s voice broke though her haze making her jump a little. “You ok?”

"Other than being pissed over the audacity of someone attacking my son and me like that, just peachy.” Calla tried not to snap at the short man. He just chuckled with only a slightly nervous warble in his voice.

“Well, we've got Piccolo keeping an ear out just in case he comes back, so I think you can relax.” The black haired man patted Calla on the shoulder as she looked around one more time.

“Thanks guys.” She said trying to relax, nodding to Piccolo and Krillin. The other saiyans were still outside, probably wondering how strong she was or angry Spopovich attacked a little kid. She hadn’t missed the looks Gohan was giving her son. Her hands shook a bit as she took a deep breath. Goten gave her a concerned look before he bolted to the refreshment table across the room. This whole thing was turning into a nightmare. She should have stuck to her original plan of fighting in the smaller tournaments and getting money that way.

“Calla, its ok.” Krillin said quietly as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

“This was a mistake, Krillin. I shouldn’t have come to this tournament. We should have left after I saw you guys.”

“Just because some freak attacked you?” Piccolo asked from his place further down the wall. “I know you have Goku’s kid.” She went ridged. “Relax, you’ve taken good care of him and he cares about you. I want to know how exactly he came to live with you when Gohan thought he was dead.”

“I don’t want to lose him.” She whispered. “He’s all I have.”

“Can we not do this right now?” Krillin asked trying to play peacemaker. “Maybe after the tournament? Calla didn’t do anything wrong, Piccolo.”

“Fine, after the tournament.”

“Krillin, would you mind keeping an eye on Goten for a few minutes? I'm going to go cool off before I blow something up.”

“No problem. Wish my little Marron could meet him. They’d have fun I think.” He said as Calla went towards the bathrooms. The former monk turned and found the namekian staring at him intently.

“You know what happened.” It was a statement. His eyes narrowed down at the human, but Krillin didn't fold like he use to do when given that look. He crossed his arms and looked in the direction the saiyan female had left in.

“It’s Calla’s story to tell.” 

++DBZ++

Calla splashed water on her face to help get rid of the final embers of her anger from the unexpected danger her cub had been in not too long ago. After she patted her face dry, she just stared down at the sink lost in her thoughts.

‘I can't believe that coward!’ She seethed in her mind as her hands clenched on the porcelain making it crack under her strength. ‘He better be lucky I want that money so bad or I'd have his head on a stake!’

Taking a deep breath, the saiyan woman finally let her rage go. ‘There's nothing for it now. He can't do anything to me, and Goten and I will be in space before the year is out.’ She quickly squashed the guilt about leaving her friends but unfortunately the hurt expression on Goku's face distracted her enough that she didn’t realize she wasn’t alone. Her black eyes lifted so she could make eye contact with herself in the mirror and widened as she saw her opponent’s friend lunging at her with some strange white object.

Spinning quickly out of the way Calla moved to strike at Yamu only for Spopovich to grab her arm and brutally twist it behind her back while his other arm wrapped around her neck in a choke hold actually lifting her completely off the ground.

“You shouldn’t have embarrassed me. You might not have made yourself a target.” Spopovich hissed into the woman’s ear as she growled and struggled to free herself from his inhumanly strong grip.

“Wha-AHHHH!” 

Yamu stabbed the white device into her side under her ribs. She quickly attempted to power up to get loose, but her energy fizzled out before she could gather it properly. Calla screamed in pain as whatever the device forcefully drained away her ki. The saiyan woman’s struggles got weaker as her strength faded, but she could hear her assailants start to talk behind her.

“What's taking so long, Yamu? She should be drained dry by now!” the larger of the two growled once she stopped screaming.

“She has too much. The device is almost full, and she still isn’t even half drained yet.” The thing in her side was removed with a stab of pain as they carelessly yanked it out, and she sagged in the arms holding her up. Dark eyes struggled to stay open from both the sudden massive drain on her ki and the iron grip on her neck that held her in the air. “We'll just take her with us. I'm sure Master Babadi will be pleased if he has her.”

‘Babadi?’ The door to the bathroom opened.

“MOM!” Calla’s heart stopped hearing her son’s voice.

“Goten….run!” She struggled to get out with the vice grip on her throat. Her baby couldn’t fight these men. Something was very wrong with them, and she should have never let her guard down. They shouldn’t have had the strength to hold her down, but they did and could do so much worse to her little boy.

Calla felt her body being roughly handled, and she sluggishly struggled against the submission hold she was trapped in when she heard Goten shout and something crashed through the bathroom door. The arm around her throat vanished, and Calla twisted to get loose despite the pain in her trapped arm when something hit her on the back of her neck. Pain exploded in her head, and Calla fought to stay awake to protect her son before she sank into blackness.


	7. Chapter 7

Goku stared after his retreating friend with a mix of fury and concern welling up in him. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to rip the bastard’s head off or go check on Calla and Goten.

‘Why am I so angry? Calla can take care of herself. How could that bastard attack when Goten was right there, that blast…’ He growled imagining what that could have done to his newly discovered son. It could have seriously injured him. Saiyans, even half saiyans, were tough, but if their guard was down things could hurt them just the same.

“Did you just growl?” Krillin asked coming over with his hands stuffed in his pockets. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you growl before…well you know outside of a fight anyways.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Krillin.” The taller man finally said looking at his now trembling hands. “I…Why is everything with Calla bothering me so much? I wanted to tear that man’s head off. That’s not like me.”

“Oh, don’t even pretend you don’t know why, you lying bastard.” Vegeta snarled walking up to the two. “How dare you. Fifteen years, Kakarot. Fifteen damn years you hid the fact there was another saiyan on this miserable rock. Not only that there was another of our race but a FEMALE!” He all but snarled fisting Goku’s gi and dragging him down to eye level.

“What business of yours is it?” Krillin snapped. “Calla also didn’t show herself to you for a reason. Not to mention we haven’t seen her in nearly twenty years ourselves.”

“You’re next on my shit list, shorty, you knew just as long and didn’t say anything either.” He hissed causing Krillin to jump just a bit at the murderous glare leveled at him before he got back in Goku’s face. “But no, Kakarot, what really pisses me off is the fact you pretended to be a faithful partner to your human shrew and kept the one chance to start rebuilding our race all to yourself.”

“I didn’t cheat on my wife.” He snapped shoving Vegeta off him.

“And which one is that exactly?” The older male sneered as he crossed his arms.

“What are you talking about?” Anger started to leak in the taller saiyan’s voice. He narrowed his eyes at Vegeta and bared his teeth. “I'm married to Chichi. She is my wife, and I have been a faithful partner; not that it's any of your business.”

“Oh, so you have no honor? I can't believe this. Are you honestly this stupid?” The prince gave a cruel smirk as the younger man pushed away from him. “And you wonder why she left you for all those years. Seems self explanatory to me, Kakarot.”

Goku gave the older man a dangerous glare that seemed to amuse Vegeta more than threaten him. The dead saiyan did nothing to stop the snarl building in his throat, and Krillin was worried that the two men were about to start fighting right in front of him. 

 

"Whatever,” Vegeta crossed his arms and headed back to his corner. His parting words made Goku want to tear the other apart. “I'll just beat the answers out of you during our fight, or perhaps I'll ask her.”

"Goku, no!" Krillin grabbed one of his friend's arms to keep the taller man from going after the arrogant prince. “Just let it go! You can deal with Vegeta later.”

The short human managed to steer the angered saiyan to the farthest area away from Vegeta as they could get. Krillin was shock that he could feel his old friend practically shaking with rage. Seeing Calla and Goten attacked earlier didn't help at all. 

Goku snarled as he moved to face the wall. He could feel his grip on his ki starting to slip with his wrath. The saiyan was so distracted that he didn't notice Krillin and Piccolo placing themselves so that their bodies were blocking the saiyan's view of the prince. 

The orange clad man took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. He slowly coaxed his mind to go into a meditative state so he could gain better control over his emotions.

"Hey, Piccolo.” Krillin whispered as he watched his friend. “Could you keep an eye on him? I'm going to check on Calla and Goten. I saw him head out a little bit ago and I'm concerned.”

As soon as he got an acknowledgment, the black haired human walked out of the room.

++DBZ++

Trunks looked around the corner as he made his way back to the adult fighters. He wanted to stay with his father during the fights…well…actually, he wanted to fight in the adult division, but he would settle with spending time with the saiyan prince.

He heard a noise as he was looking for his father and the other fighters, but something made him stop. Just as he was walking along the courtyard, a loud crash and a weight slammed into his side making the boy tumble a few feet.

The lavender haired boy groaned as he moved to sit up. As soon as he did, he saw two men dressed in black with a large M on their forehead. The smaller one had a strange white device in one hand and a woman in a teal gi thrown over his other shoulder. The larger man had an arm extended out like he had just thrown a punch, and both were wearing cruel smiles.

“MOM!” A shout came to his right, and he turned to see the boy that had beaten him in the junior division single-mindedly rush towards the two men.

“Hey, wait!” Trunks shouted.

Goten ignored the words and kicked off the ground to fly in the air to get his mother back from the bald men. Spopovich waited with a cruel grin and fired a ki blast almost at point blank range. Dark eyes widened and braced for impact with the blast when something slammed into the black haired cub knocking him clear of the attack, making him roll in the grass before he hit his head on some rubble from when he was launched out of the bathroom earlier.

“Let's go, Spopovich! Quickly before someone else comes!” Yamu shouted as a black aura surrounded his body. Both he and the larger man blasted off into the sky, taking Calla with them.

Goten moaned as he shook his head. The boy moved so he could push his body up on his hands and knees, and he put a hand on his forehead where he had hit a piece of stone. Blinking almost in a daze the cub noted he wasn’t bleeding as his hand came away from a nasty bump clean. Another noise came from beside him, and he caught sight of the boy he had crashed into before.

“Hey, you ok? Goten, right?” Trunks asked as he pushed himself up on his knees.

Goten nodded as he looked back at the men only to see them gone! He caught sight of the men leaving, and his heart stopped in his chest. They were taking his mom away! 

“NO! MOM!” Trunks grabbed the younger boy’s arm earning a glare from the small cub, his tail lashing angrily.

“Wait! Those weirdos punched you through a wall, you need to think before you rush in there.”

“I’m not letting them hurt my Mom!” Goten shouted pulling his arm free and blasted off after the men with a white aura streaking behind him. Trunks knew that Goten wouldn't be able to stop the pair on his own, so he got ready to follow him when someone grabbed him from behind.

“Trunks! Wait!” Krillin’s voice prevented the boy from lashing out. The short haired human pulled him back to the ground. “What happened?!”

“Those two weird guys with the M on their heads attacked the kid that beat me! He went crashing through the wall and ran into me when the bug guy hit him. They had his mom, and took off! He's gone after them!”

“Shit!” Krillin’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the sky. “Listen. Go find your dad and Gohan. Tell them what happened here, I'm going after them to keep Goten from getting himself killed.”

“But-!”

“Now, Trunks! We don't have time for this! I'll need help, and I need them! Those two guys aren’t normal, especially if they took down Calla, now go!” The human shouted as he crouched down. The lavender haired boy jumped at the shout and scrambled to obey. Once he was out of sight, Krillin launched himself into the sky.

‘Please let me get there in time!’ Krillin prayed as he flew as fast as he could. ‘Calla’s gonna murder me if anything happens to Goten. We should have kept a closer eye on those bastards, anyone able actually push Calla hard enough to make her flare that much power in the ring couldn’t have been normal.’

++DBZ++

Goku crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the doorway where Krillin had left to check on Calla not too long ago. They had been gone for some time, and he was beginning to get concerned. The tall saiyan was still angry over what Vegeta had said about his wife and friend too, but he was really worried about the looks Spopovich and his friend were giving Calla as they left.

His eyes trailed over to the two beings watching Gohan's friend, Videl, fight. The different colored skin, unusual clothing, and pointed ears all gave the man everything he needed to know about what these two males were, but not why they were here.

The smaller male with the light purple skin had stopped him to speak with him after he had had that small meal before the fights. Seeing one of the Shin, the race the Kais, here on Earth had him struggling not to alarm anyone. The Shin only left their planet if the situation was extreme.

‘Something’s going on here….’ The saiyan frowned as he narrowed his eyes in thought. ‘First, two of the Shin come here on Earth. That fact that King Kai didn't warn me about them before I left. Second, those men have very unusual ki that I've never felt in any living being before. Finally…Calla and Goten.’

The saiyan was trying to figure out what could possibly be happening. He had a feeling that whatever the Shin were here for involved the reason those two humans had that weird ki. Goku lifted one of his hands to rub at his face as the frustration from the lack of answers started to get to him.

‘I guess if it was something that needed me, King Kai would've let me know by now.’ The saiyan moved his hand to brush his hair out of his face as he rested his head against the wall. ‘I shouldn't be worried about this. I'm dead.’

Just then, a feeling of dread washed over him making his head jerk to the opening where Calla had walked out of not too long ago. He felt something in his heart urging him to run out and find his friends, and he started to walk to the opening when the smaller Shin blocked his path. The saiyan bit back the urge to bare his teeth and the purple male.

“Is something the matter, Son Goku?” The voice was deceptively mild as he tilted his head with the question. The light glinted off the yellow earrings he was wearing making the saiyan tense for some unknown reason. A small smile played on his lips. “You look like you've seen a ghost.”

Goku frowned at the small male. His hands clenched into fists to keep his thoughts from running wild. His instincts were yelling at him that something was very wrong and he needed to find it. He gave the Shin a grim smile.

“As a matter of fact, I need to go check on something. Is there a problem with me doing that?” He hated playing subtleties like this. He would much rather be direct more than anything. He felt like dealing with these was a part of his punishment.

The purple male’s eyes narrowed at the question, and he hummed a little. The Shin glanced over at the arena where Videl was just announced as the winner of her match, and that infuriating smile came back.

“Well, your son’s match is next. Don't you want to be here to see it?” A white eyebrow lifted as he asked the question. “I'd hate for something unusual to happen while you weren't here to see it.”  
Goku fought not to take a rapid inhale of air over those words. He felt like the life of his oldest son had just been threatened, but that sense of urgency was still there. It called to him to rush out and find…Calla and Goten. His heart started to pound in his chest.   
Calla was in trouble.  
“Gohan can take care of himself.” Goku spoke with steel in his tone as he moved to go look for Goten and Calla. “I know he's strong enough to beat whatever is going to attack him.”  
“I strongly suggest you watch what is coming, Son Goku.” The Kai said with narrowed eyes and Goku froze as a heavy pressure began pressing against him starting at his wrists. He hadn’t told the others about his “bonds”, the very thing that enforced his punishment. The bonds weren’t physical exactly, more like energy woven into his own that made him blind to things on this side, viewing portals were just expanses of white when he saw one followed by a stinging pain in his eyes that lingered for days if he kept watching the portal.   
The Grand Kai had been kind enough to explain things to him after the injunction was placed on him. Because he was so powerful like all other warriors who kept their bodies, his bonds could be activated if he violated a rule or even keep him under control should he ever rebel against the kais. To ensure it was not abused only those at the Grand Kai’s level or higher could activate it. Whoever this was could use his injunction on him, and that terrified and enraged him.   
““I don’t know who you are, but you have no right to use that!” The saiyan hissed angrily as he shrugged off the pressure of the ‘suggestion’. “I haven’t broken any rules. I’m allowed to go where I like on Earth.”  
“I think you will find that I have every right, and I hope that you do not forget that.” That pleasant tone as become curt and sharp as the smaller man looked up at the saiyan. “I'd hate to force you into doing as I recommend.”  
Goku fought to keep his snarl hidden as he glared at the Shin. His hands curled into fists, and they were clenched so tightly that blood dripped onto the floor. His eyes flickered to the opening before they settled back on the other man.  
“Besides, that woman isn't important.” The white haired male said as he waved a hand dismissively in the air. “Despite her earlier display, her power level is below your son's so he will be the target.”  
The dead saiyan blinked at those words before his blood boiled in rage over the callous way his friend was spoken about by this individual and the way he casually admitted that she might or might not be a target. Luckily one of his friends had come over stopping him from shouting at the Shin.  
“A target of what?” Piccolo asked from behind the purple skinned kai. “Is there something we need to be aware of?”  
“All will be revealed in time.” He smiled at the Namek, and Piccolo frowned in response. “Just make sure you are prepared.” He gave the two a look before he walked over to watch the fight.  
“What was that about, Goku?” The taller male asked as they watch the smaller Shin. “Sounded to me that he was threatening you.”  
“Its not me I’m worried about.” Goku confided. “I don’t like that he’s here, Piccolo. Something is going on and its attracted the attention of Otherworld if I’m right.”   
“Who is he?”  
“I don’t know, you know I can’t talk about the other side.”  
“Don’t feed me the ‘I don’t remember’, Goku. I have Kami’s memories of the Kais and Otherworld. I know he’s one of the shin and something he’s done has you worried, now spill.”  
“I honestly don’t know, Piccolo.” The saiyan said quietly. “He’s up there rank wise, but I don’t know who he is and right now that scares me more than I’d like to admit.”

“Dad! Gohan!” Trunks barreled into the waiting room and dropped to put his hands on his knees and catch his breath, why where there so many stupid hallways and no signs!

“Trunks?” Vegeta walked closer to the half saiyan with a scowl on his face. “What are you doing here?”

“Kr-Krillin told me to…get help.” The boy fought to get his breath back. “There were...these two guys, they had black…M’s on their foreheads and this weird white thing.”

That got the attention of the Shin, Goku, and Piccolo. All three came closer to the saiyan prince to hear the conversation. Goku could feel the sense of dread building rapidly in his heart, and he had to resist the urge to shake the boy for the information.

“They had that Calla lady too! And she looked hurt like they knocked her out. They took off, but her son and Krillin went after them. Krillin said that they would need help!” He clenched his hands as he looked up at his father. “He said that anyone who could push her into showing her power like that isn't normal!”

Goku felt his heart stop when he heard that. Someone hurt Calla. And Goten was going after them. Calla who could turn super saiyan. Calla who had somehow taken care of and raised his son. 

“They took the woman?” The kai asked making Trunks tense. “That doesn't make sense. Her power level shouldn't have been high enough to interest them. They need someone with a higher energy reading.”

“Alright, what is going on?” Piccolo grumbled. “If there is a threat to our planet, we need to know.”

"Boy, are you absolutely sure of what you saw?" Shin demanded while ignoring the former guardian making Trunks nervous. 

"Y-yeah."

"Hey!" Vegeta snapped getting the purple being's attention. "The green man asked you a question. If there is something decent to fight on this planet, I want to know." 

"But it makes no sense for them to attack her. The wizard needs a great deal of pure energy, untainted from the source. They should have attacked Gohan as he is the strongest living being at the time."

"Excuse me!" Vegeta snarled. "I'm not weaker than some lazy-" Piccolo snorted and cut him off with a chuckle. "What the hell is so funny?"

"Calla is easily as strong as you if not stronger." Piccolo smirked at the prince. “She trained nonstop for at least 10 years that I know of from Kami's memories, with liberal use of the time chamber. She is easily capable of super saiyan and even the level above it if her son is telling the truth."

Goku couldn't listen anymore as he got a lock on Krillin's ki unable to sense Calla and unfamiliar with Goten. They were moving too fast to lock onto with the instant transmission technique. He needed to make sure Calla and Goten were ok. He dashed out of the waiting room and blasted into the sky flying as fast as he could after them desperate to make up the distance. 

He vaguely felt Piccolo, Vegeta, and the Shin follow him, but he pushed that out of his mind as he focused on his speed. In the back of his mind, Goku wondered if there was a curse on him somehow. After all, this was his only day back to the physical world and more drama had unfolded than his years gone.


	8. Chapter 8

“Master Babidi,” A small yellowish brown male looked over at a tall pink demon. “Those two humans we found earlier are returning.”

“Already?” Babidi walked away from a large pink orb to a small crystal ball. His hands moved around it and a picture of Yamu and Spopovich flickered into view.

“I should never had converted those two. They must be idiots if they think they managed to collect enough energy in such a short amount of time. Well, let's go retrieve the energy collector. Dabura, get ready to scout out for more living things.”

“Yes, master.”

The pair moved out of the white ship to wait for the two humans.

"Back so soon, my minions?" Babidi said as they landed in front of they're master.

"Master, we found something that will surely be of interest to you." Yamu said handing the energy collector to Dabura before slinging Calla down from his shoulder into a bridal carry so he could show his master the woman. "This woman, she has a remarkable amount of power. Spopovich faced her at the Tenkaichi Budokai, and she threw him from the ring just by flaring her power." Dabura scoffed.

"You expect us to believe that an earthling became that powerful."

"It's true!" Yamu growled back. "Check the container, it was filled just from her, and she wasn't drained completely!" Babidi rolled his eyes taking the device from the demon king only to stare in shock at the dial.

"I don't believe it! This all came from this slip of a woman, there's no way that should have been possible. No human is capable of producing this much energy and still be living." The wizard exclaimed. He eyes zeroed in on the unconscious woman and examined her. As soon as he saw the tail that slipped from around her waist, he grinned in malice and erupted in laughter.

"Dabura, do my eyes deceive me?! I do believe these two were fortunate enough to actually find and bring us a genuine saiyan!"

"How?! The saiyans were wiped out decades ago." Dabura said in shock, but the proof was plain as day.

"A saiyan!" Babidi chucked happily. "This is wonderful, well done, you two, well done! She will make a lovely addition to our collective. Pui Pui. Take her to the chamber so I can prepare her." Babadi said gesturing for a male white and navy alien to take her from Yamu.

“You want her to work with us?” Spopovich hissed as he glared at the unconscious female. He still hated her for making a fool out of him in front of all those people. “She would be better use as a battery. She'll only slow us down, master.”

“You worry too much.” The wizard said with a wave of his hand. He turned to fully look at the bald humans with a gleam in his eyes. “With your next task, I don't see that being a problem. In fact, you will never need to see her again.”

“Oh?” Spopovich and Yamu smiled like eager pets as they leaned closer to Babidi. The yellowish brown man just chuckled ominously at their expressions as he moved to place his hands behind his back. “What do we do next, master?”

“You are going to die now.” His words caused the pair to frown on confusion. The wizard’s eyes started to glow a sickly green light and widened briefly.

“Wha-AHHHHH!” Spopovich shouted as his hands clamped down on either side of his head. The larger human male thrashed around where he stood as his body twitched violently. Yamu backed away from his partner with a look of horror on his face.

“But, Master! Why?!” The smaller bald male shouted as he stepped further away. His eyes remain trained on Spopovich while the other's body moved on its own, contorting into ways that surely would leave broken bones. He jumped as a sickening snap was heard, and the larger man's screaming became more shrill.

“It seems our working relationship has come to an end.” Babidi said like he was talking about the weather. His eyes narrowed as they watched Spopovich writhe in pain. “Now that I have that beautiful saiyan, what use do I have for you two?”

Whatever Yamu was about to say got cut off as Spopovich’s scream took on another level. The larger man’s body swelled up while his arms and legs bent in unnatural directions causing the heavy body to fall to the ground. He fell silent as his form bulged until it blew apart with a burst of ki.

The remaining human just stared at the place his partner use to be frozen in place until Babidi turned to look at him. He gave a frightened shout and turned to blast off. The wizard watched him for a few seconds before he called out.

“Pui Pui, before you take our new warrior down to the chamber, will you dispose of him for me?”

++DBZ++

Goten pushed to fly as fast as he could in order to catch up to the men that took his mother. His eyes could barely make out the colors of their ki as they streaked along the sky until they suddenly started to descend back to the ground. The small cub just caught sight of the two men by a ship with several other individuals before the big one exploded.

He gasped at the sight shocked over what he was seeing when the smaller human blasted off the ground. A being that was white and blue set something on the ground to shoot the remaining human, and Goten noticed that it was Calla.

“MOM!”

Seeing her in a heap on the dusty rock had him flying faster as his adrenaline gave him an extra boost of speed. He stretched his hands out as far as he could as he closed in on her when a light blue and pink blur sent him flying off in a different direction. The red clad boy let out a yelp while he spun in the air until he managed to get right side up. He skidded in the dust until he could glare at whoever hit him.

"What do we have here?" Babidi asked curiously. "A foolish little hero?"

"Give back my mom!" Babidi's eyes widened before he noticed the tail around the boy's waist as it twitched and flared. 

"Another saiyan! And a child at that." The wizard laughed gleefully. He rubbed his hands together at this unexpected find. "Dabura, this is our lucky day!"

Goten growled and launched at the huge demon with a shout of anger intent on getting to his mother. The other fighter from before blurred into existence surprising the cub before hitting him away once again. Goten flipped and landed in a crouch shrugging off the hit. 

"Child!" Babidi called out as Pui Pui picked up the female. "Be a good boy and come with us. Don't you want to go with your mother?" The cub's fangs came out.

"You aren't taking my mom anywhere. Give her back or I'll make you!" His hair and clothes started to float as his ki spiked with his emotions. His hands clenched into fists, and his tail bushed up so much that he had to let it unwind from his waist.

"Such bold words from someone so small." Dabura said crossing his arms. "You're welcome to try, child."

"Have some fun, Dabura." Babidi softly said to the demon while he picked up the energy collector. "Find out how useful this boy could be and how much persuasion he might need. Just don't kill him."

“Of course, master.” The yellow eyes of the demon glinted with excitement as he stepped closer to the boy. Goten hesitated as he sized up his opponent and Dabura smirked. “What's wrong, boy? I thought you wanted your mother back?”

That had the cub snarling out a cry of rage as he blasted off the ground, charging right at the pink skinned male. His speed shocked Dabura enough for him to land a punch on the larger man's jaw. He was quick to follow the strike with a kick to keep the advantage.

His limbs were a blur as he punched and kicked, blinded by his anger. Goten managed to push Dabura away from the ship a few feet, and he went to deliver a double handed fist to the tops of the demon’s head when he was stuck in the gut.

He let out a gasp and another blow to his cheek had him flying back until he tumbled head over feet in the dust. He wiped the back of his hand over his chin to see a smear of blood coming from a split lip.

“Not bad, child.” The deep voice came from above him, and Goten’s head jerked up to see Dabura standing over him with his arms crossed. “But not good enough.”

The cub glared and moved to start fighting again, but the blue clad man kicked out hard, striking Goten in the chest making him let out a shout of pain. He wasn't given a chance to recover before the demon was on him.

+++DBZ+++

The cry from Goten had Calla struggling to open her eyes as her maternal instincts demanded that she protect her cub. Her muddled mind could make out the sounds of fighting and someone was speaking close to her.

“-boy is quite skilled for his age. He will be very useful to us.” The voice made her want to cringe at the shrillness of it. “I'm amazed that he was able to push Dabura like that.”

“The woman must be more powerful than we thought if her offspring is like this, master.” Goten was here? Her baby screamed in pain again. Digging deep she gathered enough energy to open her eyes enough to see what was going on. Goten was on the ground with a massive creature planting their food on the cub's back. She growled from where she was held trying to move. She had to protect her cub.

++DBZ+++

Pui Pui looked at the saiyan woman when he felt her begin to stir. "Master, she's waking up!" Babidi looked on in surprise as well.

"I don't believe it. Drained of that much energy…she shouldn't be able to wake back up." Her eyes cracked open as the boy screamed from Dabura's attention. Gold energy began rolling off her body gaining the demon king and Goten's attention.

"Mom!"

Calla’s movements became stronger, and Babidi realized she was going to go berserk if she woke to see her child being harmed. He'd have no chance to convert her if that was the case. In all his centuries, he had learned an angry mother was capable of utter destruction if their child was threatened. If this saiyan was as strong as he believed, he could not allow her to wake until she was under his control.

"Pa para." He intoned softer than normal as his hands stretched towards her. The woman's brow creased as she fought the sleep spell.

"Mom, you have to wake up!" Goten shouted hoping he could help.

"Dabura, shut the little brat up." Babidi called out as he pushed more will at the woman. He could feel just how much she was resisting the spell, and it was being fueled by her son. The sound of a wheezing cry distracted Calla enough for the wizard to place her deep into sleep.

“Pui Pui, take her inside. It's too risky to keep her out here.” Babidi ordered his servant, and Goten struggled harder under Dabura’s foot. “I'll be along shortly so do not leave her unattended.” The white and navy male bowed his head and walked inside the ship with the saiyan woman in his arms. Babidi looked back at the boy who looked crushed as his mother was taken away. The wizard couldn't help but chuckle at the child’s expression.

“Mom…Mom!” Goten reached a hand out toward the doorway where Calla was taken. He fought harder, and his energy started to flicker gold around his body. “No, give her back!” 

“She belongs to Master Babidi, child. You might as well give up and accept her fate and yours.” Dabura said feeling the child uselessly struggle under his boot. Goten just growled and got angrier. They weren’t taking his mom. They were supposed to go find the other saiyans. He refused to loose the only person that loved him unconditionally. His power swelled within him getting Dabura’s attention. 

“Give my mama BACK!” He shouted as his ki exploded and threw the demon off of him. Dabura flipped to float in the air as the small child got to his feet surrounded by a corona of power.

“What's this? Is this the fabled power of the saiyans?” The yellowish male wondered as the boy's hair bled into gold and his eyes changed to teal. Goten glared at his opponents with a golden aura surrounding his small body. “Seems like he will be very useful with the proper training. Dabura, capture him if you would. I believe he’s going to need your special treatment to contain while I work on his mother. So much power, Majin Buu will be revived faster than ever with them!”

The demon shot off towards the boy, and the pair engaged once more. Goten, with the power boost going super saiyan, was keeping up with Dabura better than earlier. He bared his small fangs at the older male as he tried to get past the other. 

“You fight well for a child.” The demon had a vague tone of respect as he backed off a small ways. His actions made the saiyan cub falter for a moment before he put his guard back up. “Unfortunately, it's time to end this.”

Dabura smirked and spit at the cub, but Goten twisted so that it went past him, but he managed to see the saliva land on a small rock which changed color from brown to gray. He had no idea what happened, but he knew that he shouldn't let that get on him.

He blinked in confusion over the change, and his distraction allowed the demon to land a punch knocking him back on the ground once more. He let out a cry of pain as he hit the ground hard enough to cause it to fracture around him. 

Goten groaned as he sagged in the hole his body made as his ki died away leaving him in his base form. Desperately he tried to call it back, but all of his injuries were catching up to him from his fight with Trunks and the two from earlier. He could hear footsteps coming closer to where he laid in the rubble. They were too strong, but he couldn't give up. He needed to save his mom. The cub’s arms shook as he pushed his upper body up. A shadow fell over his body and Goten glared up at the demon.

“Say goodnight, boy.” Dabura went to spit at him once more, and the boy felt fear in his heart.

“Goten, stay down!”

Dabura jumped over the disk of energy that flew towards him and hit it with his own blast destroying it before looking back to see a short earthling darting further back from the ship with the cub in their arms. 

“Kr-krillin?” Goten teared up as he looked up at his mom’s friend. “Mom’s in the ship. You gotta help her.”

“Hey, its alright, Goten. Help’s on the way.” Krillin said shushing the child. “I’m gonna get you out of here ok, buddy?” He wasn’t prepared for Goten to struggle against him.

“But-!”

“Going somewhere?” Dabura taunted appearing in front of the monk and backhanding him back towards the ship. Krillin tucked Goten close and rolled when he hit the ground to protect the little boy from further injuries.

“Pitiful. You should have stayed out of this, earthling. You’d have lived longer.” Dabura said landing in front of them. Moving quickly Krillin rolled back determined to keep Goten away from the pink….what ever he was.

“You aren’t taking him.” The black haired man stated. “And I would hate to be you when Calla finds out what you did to him.”

“Ha!” The demon barked out a laugh. “That will be nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you.”

Goten felt the muscles in the human tense as he stared at Dabura. Krillin’s eyes flickered around them before they settled on one spot over the taller male's left shoulder. The black haired man bit his lower lip in thought before he seemed to come to a decision. He leaned down to whisper in the boy’s ear.

“Cover your eyes.” He never took his eyes off the demon even as he noticed a spark of white slowly growing bigger in the sky. “I'll let you know when you can open them.”

“I'll give you one last chance. Hand over the boy, and I'll make your death quick.” Dabura slowly uncrossed his arms and gracefully moved into a fighting stance.

“Like hell I will!” Krillin shouted as he pulled the boy closer to his body. “I'm more afraid of Calla than I am of you.”

“Well, if you won't make a move, I will.” White boots kicked off the ground as the demon rushed towards the shorter pair. Seeing his chance, Krillin moved Goten behind him and placed his hands on either side of his head with the thumbs tucked into the palm while four fingers splayed out beside black eyes.

“Solar Flare!” 

A bright burst of ki exploded around the human making Dabura let out a shout as the light from the ki blinded him. As soon as the light died down, Krillin turned and grabbed the boy and moved to blast off, but his legs suddenly stayed rooted to the ground. He looked down to see his body turning into stone. Thinking fast, the human pushed Goten away from him just as he became a statue. Goten’s impact with the ground drove him to open his eyes despite not being told to.

“KRILLIN!!!!”

Goten stared in horror at the stone form of his mother’s friend with tears in his eyes. The demon’s laugh drew his attention back as he slowly stalked toward the child who was trying to crawl backwards, terrified of what the pink fighter was going to do to him. 

“Don’t be so scared, child.” The demon smirked. “Just relax, it will be like taking a nap and when you wake up you’ll be with your mother again, both in the service of Master Babidi.”

The cub froze in fear as Dabura’s shadow fell over him. His body was shaking, and he squeezed his eyes shut not wanting to see what was about to happen. Goten heard a dark chuckle from above him that sent shivers down his spine. 

Then, an animalistic snarl came from behind him followed by the sound of someone getting hit. The child went still, afraid of what was happening around him. The sound of someone touching down behind him had his eyes snapping open.

Goten blinked at the sight of Dabura a few yards away from him with the back of his hand wiping his mouth. Orange came into his peripheral vision making him take a shuddering gasp. An arm came down by his body, and he couldn't help but latch onto the limb. The cub looked up to see Goku crouched over him with massive fangs being bared at the demon. His onyx eyes were staring so hard with burning rage at the pink male that Goten was shocked to see. 

“Keep your hands off my son.”


	9. Chapter 9

Goku glared at the pink demon as he pulled the shaking cub closer to his chest. He felt Goten latched onto his shirt and tugged on the fabric so he could bury his face in the man’s neck. The rage the older saiyan felt surged as small damp spots bloomed on his skin, and a deep growl came from his chest. Goten was trembling, his little heart beating a mile a minute. The little black tail wrapped tightly around Goku’s wrist setting his instincts off with the sharp scent of fear coming off the cub.

His eyes remained trained on Dabura who was looking at him warily as another snarl passed his lips when the demon’s eyes wandered over his cub. There was a slight amount of satisfaction over seeing someone hesitant over fighting with him, but it was overshadowed by the protectiveness he felt towards his son, the anger at seeing his best friend petrified, and the mass of emotions he felt over the whole situation with Calla.

He straightened to stand as he moved Goten so that he was being held in his left arm close to his chest. Goten whimpered a bit but he was somewhat calmed by the deep rumble from Goku’s chest. It was only then that he took a quick look around the area. Goku saw Krillin become petrified as the saiyan had pushed to get there in time, but he didn't see Calla anywhere. 

“Another saiyan? My goodness, did we find a whole nest of them Dabura?” Babidi commented to his henchman. 

‘This one won’t be of any use except to fight master.’ The king of hell commented telepathically as he noticed the halo. ‘He bares the mark of those wretched Kais. He’s already departed from this world in any case. I believe we have lost our chance to retrieve the child.’ Dabura felt the hairs on his neck stand up as he met the adult’s eyes. Lethal white fangs peeked from curled lips. This alpha would kill him if he approached the cub, or even looked at him wrong. He had fought plenty of saiyans and none of them were ever more dangerous than when a cub was threatened. 

‘We need to lure him into the ship.’ Babidi commanded as he stepped into the open door of the ship. ‘With his aggression we can pit him against our fighters on board and harvest energy for Majin Buu that way. If we play our cards right we can even get him to bring us the child as well.’

‘He isn’t alone master, I can sense several other energy signals approaching, the Supreme Kai among them. This one must have sensed the cub’s distress or his mate’s and come ahead.’ Dabura said. ‘He won’t bring the cub onto the ship.’

‘Then perhaps we need to give him a little motivation.’ The wizard chuckled both physically and mentally. ‘I’ll proceed with the woman, with a little work she might just be ready now. I so love seeing loved ones kill each other. Make sure the Supreme Kai lives, and make sure the stronger fighters are encouraged to come inside. Do as you wish with the rest.’

‘Yes, master.’ The pink demon smirked as he chuckled, and seeing that had Goku tensing with his arms pulling Goten closer to him. His smirk grew as Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo, the Supreme Kai, and Kibito landed behind the orange clad saiyan, and Goku only cocked his head to acknowledge the arrival of the group.

“Where is she?” Goku asked through gritted teeth before his eyes flickered over to his best friend. “And what did you do to Krillin?” He let out a menacing snarl when Dabura didn't answer. His energy spiked making the ground rumble around him.

“Goku…” The namekian lowly called out as he reached a hand out to rest of his old rival’s shoulder.

“I know you can grow it back,” Vegeta started to say and that had Piccolo stopping. He was looking at the taller man with a scowl on his face, but when he looked over at the namekian a smirk appeared on his face. “But you're going to loose an arm if you touch Kakarot right now, green bean.”

The demon king shifted his stance into one of nonchalance as the vertical pupils in his eyes looked over the group of fighters to gauge their power levels. An idea formed in his mind, but he needed a distraction to make it work. All of the men were too guarded for him to execute his plan.

“He turned him into stone.” The Supreme Kai muttered as he looked over at the small man. “It's one of the reasons why Babidi uses him as his right hand. They have collected many fighters and victims that way over the years.”

The departed man saw Gohan moved closer to the petrified human with a shocked look on his face in his peripheral vision. He stretched out a hand to touch Krillin’s shoulder when the older Shin grabbed his hand to pull him away from the statue.

“Don't touch him!” Kibito snapped at the teen making him flinch. His words drew most of the attention off of the king of hell. “If you damage him in any way, he won't be able to be changed back!”

“Sounds like you know most of my secrets.” Dabura stated as he pounced on the opening the red skinned Shin gave him. He suddenly blurred out of sight only to reappear in front of Kibito with his hand stretched out. “Unfortunately, I can't allow you to reveal them.”

He fired off a stream of ki that shot through the wide eyed man’s chest, killing him instantly. His eyes glanced over at Gohan, and a cruel smile slowly grew on his face. The teen jerked back at the suddenness of the attack, and the pink skinned male followed him getting ready to spit. 

“Gohan!” Piccolo moved in front of his student with a punch aimed at Dabura when a glob of saliva landed on his cape. His hands immediately went to rip the weighted accessory off, but the stone encased him before he could touch it.

The four remaining men stared at the Namekian in horror while Goten shivered with a whimper and clutched tighter to Goku. The demon let out a dark laugh as he moved to put some distance between him and his opponents, and Gohan growled as he spun to see Dabura move to the opening of the ship.

“This is your only chance to back down, otherwise you'll join your friends in someone's rock garden.” His laughter had the hackles on Goku's neck rising as the man disappeared through the door.

Everyone was still for a few moments as they tried to wrap their minds about what had happened to their friends. Gohan rounded on the short Kai moments later. 

“Kibito said they could be changed back, how?!” Everyone was shaken at the events that just occurred. None of them had ever fought someone with an ability like this.

“The only way I know it can be reversed is if Dabura himself is killed.” The Supreme Kai said sadly. “As it is, I do not believe it possible. We can not enter Babidi’s ship.” Goten’s sharp intake of breath drew their attention as he lifted his head from Goku’s shoulder.

“But- but my m-mom’s in there!” His eyes were still filled with tears. The purple Kai tensed.

“You’re sure of this?” He asked stopping his attempt to move closer as Goku’s half feral gaze locked on him. The older saiyan hadn’t forgotten what the Shin tried to make him do apparently, and in part, Shin felt he had earned the accusations in the male’s eyes. 

“I tried to stop them.” Goten cried as he curled tighter. “He kill those other two and the big pink guy kept stopping me from getting to mama. She wouldn’t wake up when I call her.”

“Shhh.” Goku crooned and nuzzled the distraught cub. “You did your best. I’m sure Calla will be very proud of you, Goten. She’s gonna be ok. I promise we’ll get her back.” He took in Goten’s scent and memorized it. 

‘He didn’t smell human,’ the alpha realized. There wasn’t any of the refreshing almost humid “human” smell on the cub like his eldest had. All Goku could detect was the scent of warmth under the boy’s nutmeg scent, the same warm smell that was under Vegeta’s, Calla’s, and his own scent. 

It confused him. Since Goten was his son like Gohan, the cub should have possessed that humid like scent that Gohan and Trunks had under their main scent, but the younger boy smelled almost like a full saiyan. Goku moved his head closer to the boy's spiky hair to get a deeper whiff. 

“Child?” The Supreme Kai’s voice had the orange clad saiyan’s eyes flicker up from the top of his youngest son’s head to stare at the Shin. He felt his upper lip twitch with the urge to bare his fangs at the smaller man, and Goku pulled the cub closer to his chest. “Is there anything else that you can tell us about what Babidi is planning with your mother?”

“Uh…they said…,” Goten shivered and fisted his hands tighter in the orange shirt as he recalled what just happened not even a half hour ago. “They said that they were going to make us work for someone, and they knew we were saiyans.” His small tail’s fur bushed out a little from where it was wrapped around Goku's arm. 

The white haired make cursed under his breath over that news and stared down at the white ship with anger and fear in his eyes. There had been enough time for the wizard to do as he planned with the female saiyan. He realized his mistake in not allowing Goku to go save her earlier after he had heard what Piccolo had shared about the woman. 

“We have to go after them.” Gohan’s voice had the Kai looking over his shoulder at the half saiyan. “We have to save Krillin and Piccolo. And stop that wizard from using Calla too.”

“It's too late to save her.” Shin’s words sounded like a death sentence to Goten’s ears. 

“W-what!?” Goten’s eyes watered. “S-he’s my mom.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid the wizard Babidi has had more than enough time to take control of Calla. There is nothing we can do for her.” Goku snarled and hugged Goten closer to comfort the cub. 

“We can’t just leave her with them.” Gohan growled. “And what about Dabura? We have to beat him to save Piccolo and Krillin.”

“I bear full responsibility for the mistake of allowing Babidi to take control of Calla, but there is nothing we can do to save her once the wizard’s spell takes hold.”

“You keep saying something about his spell, how does it work?” Gohan’s voice came to the kai’s left, and the white haired man glanced over at the teen for a moment before looking back down at the ship.

“Babidi manipulates the darkness in a person’s heart and uses it to bend them to his will.”

“Calla doesn’t have darkness with in her.” Goku snapped feeling even more anger at the Shin at the moment. “I've known her for as long as I can remember, and not once have I ever sensed darkness within her heart.”

“Whether she does or not it is only a matter of time.” Supreme Kai almost sounded frustrated with the tall saiyan. “Babidi uses the darkness in ones heart true, but he is not limited to using it to gain control over her.” 

“I’ve heard enough.” Goku said turning towards the ship. “I’m going after her.” 

“You can’t!” Shin shouted at him. “I for-”

“You have no say over me!” The saiyan snapped back. “Not while I’m on Earth. I wondered why Baba made certain I was aware of that detail, but I know why now. While I’m on Earth, I’m allowed to use my freewill just like anyone else. You don’t know anything about me. I have never abandoned my friends, and I’m not about to start now. I am going to save Calla, Krillin, and Piccolo no matter what.” He said glaring at the Kai as though he was daring him to use his binding. 

“About time, Kakarot.” Vegeta said with a smug grin. “I’m itching for a fight.” 

“You’re taking the child with you?” Shin said in shock as Goku growled holding Goten tighter while he shielded the crying cub. 

“Goten is safer with me than out here alone where Babidi can send people after him. I’m not leaving him where he can get hurt.” He glared at Supreme Kai one more time, before launching himself into the air heading straight for the ship.

++DBZ++

“Just place her here.” Babidi instructed Pui Pui to set the saiyan woman in the center of a dark chamber with a wrinkled orb at the far wall of the dome shaped room. As soon as the woman was on the floor, the wizard chuckled as he took the energy collector over to the orb. “Let's see just how much energy you gave us, shall we my dear?”

He fitted the tip of the collector in a slot at the base of the sphere and watched the gage with delight as the energy flooded out. His eyes lit up in surprised glee once the device had been drained dry.

“Oh, my! Over half full?!” Babidi looked over at Calla and almost danced as he came back to her side. “You beautiful creature, if this is any indication of your power…” the small male crooned to the sleeping woman. “You will be my newest, prized fighter, and with you and Majin Buu, the universe will be under my grasp.”

“Master,” Dabura's voice had the wizard looking up from Calla. “We should be expecting guests soon.”

“Oh, how delightful!” Babidi rubbed his hands together before holding them out over the floor beside the woman. A crystal ball materialized on a white stand. “Shall we let our new warrior be their first opponent?”

An image of Goku holding Goten with Vegeta, Gohan, and the Supreme Kai flickered to life showing their arrival in the ship before switching to show Calla’s head and shoulders. Thin fingers arched on either side of the ball, and the orb started to faintly glow pink.

“Pa para pa pa!”

A pink mist came from the crystal ball and slowly sank into the woman's body, and the ball glowed a bright pink. The wizard’s eyes flashed as he poured his magic into her, and Babidi willed his influence to seep deep within the saiyan's body.

The ball flashed a couple of times before it fell dark. The wizard walked over to Calla and stopped just above her head with a chuckle. His arms and hands moved behind his back as he waited a few more moments to ensure that his spell had wormed its way into the woman's mind.

“Arise, my minion!” Babidi ordered with a high pitched cackle that slowly died off when Calla remained unmoving on the floor. He cocked his head to the side in confusion. “What the hell….? Why isn't she obeying my orders?”

Dabura and Pui Pui shifted on their feet as they watched their master in confusion as well. Never had they witnessed Babidi's spell fail before. Their eyes landed on the saiyan in confusion.

“Why didn't my magic work?” The wizard lifted a hand, and the crystal ball levitated over to his upturned palm. His other hand moved over the orb. His eyes flickered over to Calla and the ball several times. He frowned as the image in the crystal ball stayed bright. “I could have sworn…! Dah! A pure heart! Whoever has heard of a saiyan having a pure heart?! How is that possible?! They're a violent and bloodthirsty race!”

Babidi nearly threw the ball to the side in his anger as he glared down at Calla. His hands clenched into fists in his frustration over the failure of his spell. His eyes flashed once more before he took a deep breath. He had more than one trick up his sleeve.

“Don't think that a lack of darkness in your heart means that you won't become my servant!” The wizard's hands snapped out and a transparent white orb surrounded Calla. It lifted her off the floor as both it and the woman hovered in mid air. “I've bent more than one pure hearted warrior to my will, and you shall be no different!”

Babidi stomped back over to the stand where the crystal ball was before allowing it to rest back on its space. He willed the orb to show the group that had just arrived on the first combat level of his ship.

“Pui Pui!” The sharp call of his name had the white and navy colored male snap to attention. “Since this woman is being more difficult than I imagined, you shall go and greet our guests. Tell the others to stand by, and try and get that child to me too!”

“Yes, master.” Pui Pui bowed once and took off out of the room.

“Master?” The demon king called out as he moved to stand beside the wizard. “How are you going to corrupt her if she has a pure heart?”

“Not to worry, Dabura.” Babidi muttered as the ball started to glow pink once more. “Even if she has a pure heart, there will always be shadows that I can exploit until my magic seeps into her mind and enforces my will over her’s. It will take longer to darken them myself, but I find this method keeps a warrior more loyal to me than the other spell.”

The wizard's hands moved onto a claw shape over the sides of the orb, and a picture of Calla’s face appeared in the sphere before the view zooms in on a point on the woman’s forehead. Babidi used the ball as a medium to enter the woman's mind and heart.

Calla let out a choked scream, and she arched her back as the intrusive force entered her heart. Even asleep, she could tell that someone was not supposed to be there, and she knew she had to resist. Unconsciously, her ki flared around her as she tried to fight against the feeling of someone looking into her very core. The wizard chuckled to himself. 

"That's it, don't be shy, my dear. Show me all your worst memories.”


	10. First Fight

****  
Goku frowned as he watched Vegeta make a fool of the white and navy male that come to fight them. The prince had won the right to fight first and was obviously enjoying playing with his opponent. The orange clad saiyan huffed as Vegeta effortlessly dodged every strike. While his anger had faded, it still left him with annoyance and irritation, and it simmered under his skin with the inability to take his frustration out yet.

Dabura and his master were stalling for time to release this Majin Buu creature and somehow brainwash Calla into serving under the evil wizard. He knew that the saiyan woman had a pure heart, but if the Supreme Kai was worried that Babidi could still twist her, then they had to hurry. The situation would have Goku’s tail, if he still had one, bristling. He only had a limited amount of time to remain on Earth, and it seemed all everyone was doing was dilly-dallying around.

At least Goten wasn't crying anymore. The cub was still latched on his shirt, but now his wide eyes were watching the fight with curiosity. He followed how Vegeta took control of the fight and was showing Pui Pui just how inadequate he was. That was a welcomed change, and Goku was thankful for that at least.

Goten let out a small giggle when Vegeta hopped off the elongated head of his opponent. Goku felt his lips twitch up at the sound, somewhat happy that the cub was finding a little enjoyment in the fight even if he wasn't.

Goku really wanted this fight to be over with already so he could get to Calla. There were so many things he wanted to talk to her about, and he was outraged over the fact that someone was trying to brainwash her. She didn't deserve to have her free will taken away like this, no one did!

The tall man growled as the saiyan prince started to toy with Pui Pui, and he was about to shout at Vegeta to hurry it up when the scenery of the room morphed into something else.

Goku looked around but other than Goten, which he still held in his arms, he was alone in the void. He turned his head around to try and get his baring as he tightened his hold on his son, but all that remain was darkness.

Just then, a flash sparked in the darkness and a vision filled Goku's eyes.

++DBZ++

_In a torn and burnt teal colored gi, Calla was walking through the woods. She was rubbing one of her shoulders before she stopped suddenly. There was a look concentration on her face as she tilted her head to the side._

_Off in the distance was the sound of a baby crying. Calla frowned in confusion over the sound before an animalistic snarl had her flying through the trees to get to the source of the crying. The forest blurred around her until the saiyan woman came to a clearing, and her eyes widened at the sight._

_In the center of the clearing was a baby wrapped in a blue blanket crying against a stump and a few yards away was a large saber tooth tiger stalking to the infant. Calla let out a snarl as she fired off a ki blast and kicked off the ground._

_The blast knocked the tiger away from the baby, and the woman landed in a crouch in front of the infant with a heated glare. The feline turned with a snarl on its face only to freeze in fear at the sight of the saiyan._

_Calla slowly straightened up at took a step towards the tiger, and that had the large cat fleeing in terror. She watched it run off for a few minutes before the baby let out another cry that had her turning to check on the squirming bundle._

_“Shh…there, there,” Calla whispered to the child as she lifted it to settle it in the crook of her left arm. Her soothing voice seemed to calm the baby as it's crying lessened. “It's alright now. That pussy cat can't get to you anymore.”_

_Once the infant was settled in her hold, Calla took the blanket off the baby to look him over, and her breath was taken away at the sight._

_Black, spiky hair popped up as soon as the fabric was gone, and a tiny black tail wriggled out from under one of what could only be a boy's leg. Small fists waved in the air for a couple of seconds, then wide, onyx eyes blinked up at her with tears still swimming within them._

_The baby was naked, and he looked half starved. His hair and fur on his tail looked dull and slightly matted. Calla looked so horrified at the state he was in that she seemed to freeze for a few seconds to get herself back under control._

_The woman's eyes looked like they were watering as her free hand lifted up to grasp the teardrop shaped pendant around her neck, but the boy's whimpering snapped her out of whatever was haunting her._

_Calla brought a finger up to her mouth and sliced the pad on one of her sharp incisors. Blood bloomed on her skin, and she lowered the digit to the baby's mouth. As soon as her finger got close enough, the boy greedily latched onto it. His little hand grabbed ahold of whatever he could grab as he nursed. The infant’s eyes slowly closed as the black haired woman cuddled him to her chest over her heart._

_“Sorry it's not milk, little one, but it'll do for now.” Calla nuzzled his spiked hair with her nose. “Thankfully, we saiyans can use blood for nutrients.”_

_Calla sat on the stump to watch the child as he fed. Her eyes darted down to the ground to the crumpled fabric that the infant was wrapped in before. The saiyan female used her tail to pick it up, and when she saw a glimpse of orange thread. The woman straightened the fabric out to see a name embroidered._

_“Goten?” Calla received a coo from the baby. His eyes had opened, and his tail wrap around her left wrist. She smiled as she watched the baby slow down in his feeding, and the woman could see a small improvement in him already._

_“Well, Goten, I'm Calla.” Here she paused as her dark eyes looked around the clearing once again. She frowned at the lack of energy traces and sign that any human had been here recently. “And it looks like I'm going to take care of you for awhile.”_

++DBZ++

“Useless!” Babidi shouted as the memory finished. “There’s nothing about that I can darken, although it does give me something to use with the child. Abandonment never seems to go away in a person.” The wizard mused without letting the saiyan woman from under his spell. Sweat was beading on her forehead as her will battled his and Babidi found himself grudgingly finding himself impressed. Saiyans were ever so easy to control in the past, he’d even convinced a few to follow him without magic, just the promise of fighting to their heart’s content was enough to snare most of them. That was nearly 500 years ago.

He expected that the race had evolved over time, all races did but he wasn’t expecting this. It made sense he supposed with the extinction of their race the survivors would have unique qualities. The power this woman had was mesmerizing. With her and another of the savage race he could rebuild them, become a god and be worshiped by them! With the saiyans and Majin Buu the whole universe would bow to his whims. But first he needed to break this woman. Calla arched her back with a cry of pain as the wizard hammered harder at her mind.

“That won’t do my dear, we’ll just have to go deeper.”

++DBZ++

“What…was that?” Gohan said confused.

“That was a memory.” The Supreme Kai said mildly surprised.

"A memory....does that mean Babidi showed us that? Why would he do that?"

"I don't believe that was his intention. He must be trying to find moments of weakness in the woman to use in turning her to his side. His ship is designed to amplify the effects of his magic, which leads me to think us seeing it was a side effect of his spells. He is using too much active magic for total control of his newer spells."

Gohan nodded absently before his mind drifted back to what they saw. How had his little brother ended up out in the wilderness? It couldn’t have been a trick because that was the same blanket their mother made when Goten had been born. She said she buried him in it. Further more how had Goten ended up in such bad shape? Goten was always healthy, he didn’t even spit up after eating like other babies. The baby in that memory…..he shuddered. No baby should ever look like that. And Calla had immediately tried to help Goten, never even hesitating after the obvious shock at seeing a child in such a state.

His heart was torn. He wanted to be angry and hate this woman. She had his little brother believing she was his mother, she had to have known who Goten’s father was, so why didn’t she bring him home to them. But at the same time he knew she hadn’t done anything other than save a lost, very sick little baby.

He didn’t understand why his mother told him Goten died.

His eyes flickered over to the smaller boy seeing that he didn’t look as surprised as Gohan thought he would have. He didn’t have any time to ponder why that was when the scenery around them shifted once more.

Now they were on a dusty planet with multiple moons in the sky. Wind made the dirt blow past Gohan and the others as he tried to figure just what happened.

“Looks like Babidi hasn’t changed at all.” Supreme Kai muttered making the saiyans glance in his direction. “He’ll do anything to give his fighters the advantage. You need to work with Vegeta to finish this.”

“No we won’t.” Goku snorted making his both of his sons look at him. His eyes were narrowed as he watched Pui Pui brag about how his planet had a higher gravity than Earth. “Vegeta isn’t even trying, this will be over soon.”

Within the next ten minutes, Vegeta had blasted Pui Pui into oblivion.

++DBZ++

Babidi blinked at his crystal ball as he allowed the room where the Supreme Kai and the others returned to normal. It took a few minutes for what just happened to sink into his head, and once it did, he let out a shout of frustration. He didn’t expect for all of them to make it past Pui Pui like that.

He had never had one of his fighters dispatched so easily, and that only fueled his anger. Babidi prided himself with finding the strongest warriors in the universe to serve under him. Seeing one of his top warriors defeated like that made him wonder if he was becoming lax over his servants.

“Seems theses warriors are stronger than I first thought.” He growled out through gritted teeth. The wizard’s eyes flickered over to the saiyan woman still in his spell. She was providing harder to break then expected, but Babidi knew that once he took control of her mind, it would be worth it.

“Dabura, send Yakon for the next round.” He turned back to Calla to resume his search for darker memories. “He should at least take one of them out while I finish with her, and prepare yourself for a fight as well. I don’t want to take any chances!”

“Yes, master.” The pink demon bowed at the waist before leaving the room.

Babidi glanced back at the group waiting in the first chamber before sending a mental command for the door in the center of the room to open. The men were not hesitant at all since immediately the saiyan male holding the child was the first one to jump through. The wizard came back over to Calla and started another spell. He had paused in his quest to dig deeper in her mind once he saw the defeat of Pui Pui, but now he turned his attention back to the woman.

“Now, lets see what else you have.” Babidi’s eyes glowed as he started to go through her mind again.

Her screams echoed off the walls as her power surged in response, but the orb just absorbed the ki not allowing it to cause any harm. Tears were starting to leak out of her closed eyes as the wizard found another memory.

“Lets see if this is what I’m looking for.”

++DBZ++

_Calla held a bottle to a crying Goten’s mouth, but the baby just turned his head away. She tried again without success, so she set the bottle down with an exhausted sigh. The saiyan woman tried to sooth the crying infant by bouncing him in her arms as she tried to figure out what to do next._

_It was obvious that taking care of the child was taking its toll on her. She was looking very pale and her hair and fur on her tail looked brittle and matte. Her fingers were shaking where she was holding the infant in his blue blanket._

_“Come on, little one.” She cooed to the baby as she nuzzled his forehead. She gave a weak smile as his cries morphed into hiccups, and he seemed to calm some. “You have to eat something else. I’ll give you anything…”_

_She had taken Goten with her to her house not far from where she found him, and Calla had been trying everything she could think of to get the boy to eat for the past few days.  
Unfortunately, the only thing he had eaten was several servings of her blood. The poor saiyan woman had been allowing Goten to almost drain her dry just to keep him alive. A warm bath had been the first thing she did for the cub and while he seemed to look better than when Calla found him, the boy was still looking very ill. His skin was pale and his hair was dry and brittle. His little body didn’t have any extra weight to lose at this point._

_The teal clad woman shifted Goten over in one arm as she pulled out some of the formula and some shredded red meat. With her tail and free hand, she managed to mash the meat up into very fine bits and she mixed it in with the formula. Calla heated the mixture with a finger before holding it out for the baby._

_Goten opened his mouth, but he spit the mixture back out with a weak cough. Calla slumped with another sigh before she cleaned his face. The woman collapsed in a chair feeling hopeless at her failure._

_The cub was almost skin and bones at this point! He needed to eat something soon or he wouldn’t make it, and Calla would not allow that to happen! Pricking her finger, she smeared some blood on the bottle’s nipple. If he wouldn’t take the bottle maybe she could trick him into nursing._

_Goten readily took the nipple and she felt her hopes rise as he started to nurse before he spit the nipple out with a weak cry. She didn’t know what else to do. He wouldn’t make it in a hospital, there were too many things harmful to young saiyans and even if she took him when she first found him there was still the issue of him not eating. And Dende wouldn’t be able to heal starvation. The new guardian was polite but she didn’t know if he would help her or if he would take Goten thinking she had done something to him._

_Why did Goku have to die? Calla knew this would have never happened to little Goten if he didn’t choose to stay dead. Goten looked so much like him….she needed for this little piece of him to live._

_Calla was brought back to the present. Goten was shaking in her arms and the woman could feel his heart rate getting erratic making her feel a wave of panic. She surged to her feet and looked down at the child in alarm to see glassy eyes blinking up at her._

_“No…no!” Calla sliced a finger with a fang and placed it at the baby’s mouth. He weakly started to suckle on the deep cut, but that didn’t make the woman feel any better. “Come on, Goten. I know you got more fight in you than this. You’re his son.”_

_Anxiously watching Goten trying to get more blood in his stomach, Calla’s mind started to race trying to figure out what she could do to make him better. A sweat broke out over her body as she looked around the small kitchen for anything that might help her._

_The saiyan woman had already eaten almost all of the meat in the cottage in an attempt to help her body recover all of the fluids she had lost in feeding the infant. Anything else food wise wouldn’t be as effective in helping her body make more blood. It’s not like there was a food that could instantly heal…Calla’s head snapped up so fast her neck popped and her vision swam for a few seconds._

_“A senzu bean!”_

_The saiyan female rushed to her bedroom and wrapped Goten up with her tail while still keeping her bleeding finger in his mouth. She started to tear apart her closet where she kept her gis looking for a small brown pouch. Her eyes darted from pants to shirts not finding the bag, and she let out a curse before her gaze landed on the bedside table. Calla almost yanked out the draw in her haste, but the pouch she was looking for landed on the floor._

_“Yes!” Her hand snatched the bag up and she tore into it with her teeth. A small light green bean fell onto her bed and she picked it up only to hesitate for a minute. There was no way Goten could eat the bean. He was too small, and she only had one bean._

_Her vision blurred once more and she glanced back at the infant that was still sucking on the cut on her finger. If she ate it, would the magic of the bean pass on to Goten while he was feeding? There was only one way to find out._

_Calla quickly chewed the bean and swallowed._

_Immediately, she could feel her energy coming back, and she looked down to see Goten still sucking, but it was slowly growing stronger. She could feel his body warming up and his heart was slowing down to its normal rhythm. He let her finger go and his stomach growled. It was so loud that it made both Calla and Goten blink in surprise. Calla let out a laugh while the baby looked up at her head tilted in surprise like he couldn’t believe that noise came from him._

_“Looks like you’ll eat whatever now, huh?” She said giving him a nuzzle. Goten cooed softly before he babbled and put the tip of his tail in his mouth, something that despite how hungry she knew the cub had to be he didn’t do. It gave her hope._

_“Come on lets fill that black hole you have for a tummy, little one. How about that mash, huh? That should fill you up.” The happy squeal from the cub only lifted her hopes further_.

+++DBZ+++

Goten whimpered softly as the memory faded. His mama told him he was sick when she found him, and she looked bad in that too.

“It’s ok.” His dad soothed rubbing his back. The boy could feel the arms around his body tighten around him as if to protect him from the vision they all had just seen. The older male was shaken as well from what Goten could see. “You’re fine. You’re ok. I’ve got you.”

“Mo- Mama never told me how bad I was. She said I was sick but that I got better.” Goten whispered into the man’s shirt. It scared him that he had gotten so close to death, and he was worried about how his mother had obviously done a lot just to help him survive.

“She fought so hard to save you, Goten, and she did.” Goku purred deep in his chest to help calm the child down. “Its ok, I’m sure she didn’t want to upset you and were waiting until you were older.”

“Is Mama going to be ok?” The little cub asked softly. “You can get her back can’t you? Make the bad guys stop hurting her?”

“I’m going to do every thing I can to help her, Goten.” His dad gave him a hard look full of determination. “I promise.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know it's been awhile since this story has gotten a chapter. Unfortunately my beta and I are having some writers block with this story, so we are going to place this story on a temporary hold until we get more chapters done.
> 
> If any of you have any ideas, feel free to share!


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